The Hidden History of Holidays
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Narrated by:
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Hannah Harvey
About this listen
What are the origins of dressing in costume for Halloween? Why did the barbecue grill become an iconic image for Father’s Day?
From Halloween costumes to patriotic parades to belly-busting meals, every holiday tradition tells a unique story—one encoded in symbols and layered meanings that stretch back over the centuries. In 19 lectures, professional storyteller Dr. Hannah B. Harvey takes listeners through the seasons and investigates the surprising stories behind seemingly odd holiday traditions. Dr. Harvey explores the social, political, and performative history of holidays, ranging from Hanukkah and Mardi Gras to Mother’s Day and Thanksgiving, illustrating the way traditions survive across time and cultures.
In these fascinating lectures, Dr. Harvey turns the spotlight on the histories of American and international holidays, and listeners will discover the answers to such questions as:
- How did Charles Dickens and Queen Victoria save Christmas from disappearing into obscurity in the 19th century?
- Why is "Auld Lang Syne" considered the "official" song of New Year’s celebrations?
- How did the iconic masculine images of fishing rods, barbecue grills, and lying in hammocks become synonymous with Father’s Day?
- Why should we thank ancient Rome’s Romulus and Remus for Valentine’s Day?
- To what cultures do we owe such loveable creatures as Easter bunnies and spring-predicting groundhogs?
- Why did Puritans seek to stamp out Christmas celebrations in America?
- How are the ancient Roman festival of Hilaria and today’s April Fool’s Day alike?
The Hidden History of Holidays is an eye-opening and entertaining look at what makes these festive celebrations so pervasive and powerful. By the end of these lectures, listeners will never think about greeting cards, broomsticks, or barbecues in the same way again.
©2019 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.Our favorite moments from The Hidden History of the Holidays
About the Professor
Dr. Hannah B. Harvey is an award-winning teacher, an internationally recognized performer, and a nationally known professional storyteller. She earned her PhD in Performance Studies/Communication Studies at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While teaching at Kennesaw State University, she received an Honors Program Distinguished Teacher award and an Alumni Association Commendation for Teaching Impact. As a performance ethnographer, Dr. Harvey develops oral histories into theatrical and solo storytelling works that highlight the true stories of contemporary Appalachian people. Her performance, Out of the Dark: The Oral Histories of Appalachian Coal Miners, earned her a directing award from adjudicators at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in 2007 and three year-end awards from professional critics in 2005. Harvey’s written research has been honored by the American Folklore Society and has been featured in Storytelling, Self, and Society, of which she is managing editor.
Dr. Harvey has delivered award-winning performances and has conducted workshops at festivals and universities in the United States and around the world. She has performed as a featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee; received accolades for her performances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland; and led intercultural workshops at the University Hassan II, Ben M’Sik, in Casablanca, Morocco.
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- By: Jennifer Cognard-Black, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Jennifer Cognard-Black
- Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins
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Professor Jennifer Cognard-Black takes you on a culinary tour of fiction, from Proust’s evocative madeleine and the voracious hunger of fairy tales to the intersection of recipes with storytelling and the emotional consumption of food on film. These lessons look at how food can be so much more than mere set dressing in a great story.
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Engaging, unusual teaching style
- By WG Maverick on 05-22-21
By: Jennifer Cognard-Black, and others
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The Mysterious Case of Agatha Christie
- By: Maureen Corrigan, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Maureen Corrigan
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
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Meet Agatha Christie, the best-selling novelist in human history. Her writing career spanned six decades, during which time she wrote 66 crime novels, 6 non-crime novels (including romances), and over 150 short stories. Not only was she a phenomenally successful novelist, but she is also the most successful female playwright of all time - her play “The Mousetrap” is the longest-running show in history. As you learn about Christie’s experiences and her storied career, you will better understand how the circumstances of her life shaped her work and vice versa.
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So excellent!!!
- By linsyh on 08-24-21
By: Maureen Corrigan, and others
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Edgar Allan Poe: Master of Horror
- By: Mark Canada, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Mark Canada
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
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Through these 10 lectures, you will delve into the darkness of Poe’s most nightmarish stories, including “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”. You’ll also learn how he invented the detective story and explored themes of love and loss in such poems as “Ulalume” and “Annabel Lee”. And you’ll discover how Poe employed symbolism, imagery, rhythm and rhyme, irony and paradox, repetition, simile, and foreshadowing to create a unique body of work.
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Interesting but not what I was expecting
- By Red-Haired Ash on 03-24-21
By: Mark Canada, and others
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American Heiresses of the Gilded Age
- By: Melissa Ziobro, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Melissa Ziobro
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
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Welcome to the era of true marriages of convenience. Discover the reality of trading someone’s hand in marriage, such as an American heiress, in exchange for money, power, or political clout through compelling history lectures. Showcased in novels such as Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence and in present day pop culture through works like Downtown Abbey, the Gilded Age was an era of contradictions. Life on both sides of the Atlantic was grimy and glamorous, prosperous and impoverished, traditional and revolutionary.
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Repetitive and shallow
- By Kg on 04-06-20
By: Melissa Ziobro, and others
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Generals and Geniuses: A History of the Manhattan Project
- By: Edward G. Lengel, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Edward G. Lengel
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
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In 10 riveting episodes that feel like a fast-paced thriller, acclaimed World War II historian Edward G. Lengel’s Generals and Geniuses: A History of the Manhattan Project brings the origin of the atomic bomb - and the scientific minds behind it - to vivid life. Did the Manhattan Project, and the remarkable weapon it produced, save millions of lives at the expense of the tens of thousands who died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? And was there any way to prevent this technology from unleashing the horrors that still hang over us today?
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Excellent lecture
- By AmazonTop on 09-28-20
By: Edward G. Lengel, and others
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How 1954 Changed History
- By: Michael Flamm, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Michael Flamm
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
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Every year has its share of notable events, but some years seem to capture the essence of a decade in a handful of months. The year 1954 is one such year. It began in January with a celebrity marriage heard round the world and then progressed through a series of major political, social, and cultural milestones that would echo through the next several decades. The years following World War II were a time of increased wealth and confidence, years that saw the rise of a solid, increasingly powerful middle class in America.
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Fascinating history
- By TPM on 04-19-20
By: Michael Flamm, and others
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Science of Friendship
- By: Kyler Shumway, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Kyler Shumway
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
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In his inspiring Audible Original, The Science of Friendship, Kyler Shumway, CEO of Deep Eddy Psychotherapy, offers you insights into what friendship is, how it works, and how to cultivate more rewarding connections in your own life - regardless of how lonely you may or may not feel. How does interpersonal connection work on a neuroscientific level? What schemas do we live under that keep us unconnected from one another? Why do some friendships evolve into romantic relationships or even become toxic?
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Great series
- By D.J. Grothe on 11-20-21
By: Kyler Shumway, and others
What listeners say about The Hidden History of Holidays
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- Natasha Wanderly
- 03-22-21
Wonderfully entertaining and enlightening
Wow I love Hannah’s personality, spunk, and storytelling magic. Also, I was so impressed by how little I knew about such common holidays, they have such great depth! This was a glorious listen.
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- RBfrom RJA
- 07-21-20
Great revelation of history.
Loved it. Full of very interesting facts and observations of history and the Holidays we celebrate.
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- Joel Grigg
- 12-31-21
Interesting and informative
while portions are appealing they are diminished by the author's apparent lack of research - specifically when dealing with issues or events regarding faith based history. For example she credits Henry VIII for reducing saint days when such decisions occured under Elizabeth I. Recomend a listen but carefully.
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- Jeremy
- 11-30-21
Intriguing
very interesting in-depth analysis of the origins in traditions of our holidays! Bull of information long forgotten by passed down tradition. but more than just the holidays the author has tangents that discuss for instance burial tradition in history while she's discussing the memorial day lecture. very useful and intriguing facts about the origins of many human customs.
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- DnTA
- 11-24-22
interesting and informative
Excellent detail. Interesting living histories mixed with historical fact and legend. Some holidays the author focused on her own family's history and traditions more than I enjoyed. My teen and preteen didn't enjoy this much. But listening to each holiday as it occurred in the calendar month gave them a learning opportunity without the frustration of listening to this author in too long doses. She has a pleasant voice; easy to hear in the car or over head phones. Worth a listen to expand understanding of holidays in the USA.
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- Anonymous User
- 03-06-23
MUST LISTEN - incredible performance
Has it all! Thoroughly researched and informative, UNBELIEVABLE voice performance, wonderful storytelling. Such a fun topic! 100000000 stars ✨⭐️🌟⭐️✨
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- S. Crane
- 11-09-23
Excellently performed
I really enjoyed the histories, I felt like there were several stories or information that were left out and random side stories that were added that didn’t feel like they added to the history of things more her personal viewpoints on certain things. I would definitely listen to it again, but I felt like there were some things that were missing that at least to me have been fairly common knowledge as to origins. But I did learn a lot.
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- Sharlene
- 09-28-23
Delightful and fascinating
In depth, entertaining and delightfully narrated. This work was educationally entertaining from start to finish and I'll be listening to this one again. Well done!
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- Steven
- 03-09-20
Excellent & knowledgeable look at origins of major holidays
Hannah does an amazing performance of material. This is lecture series is very detailed yet the delivery of material is entertaining. This will be one I repeatedly listen to in the future especially at the particular holidays referenced.
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- MrGetFitz
- 09-28-20
Wonderful Storytelling
Great selection of holidays and associated information. A top notch story teller that keeps you engaged from the first to last word.
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