Perks Re-Play Ep. 27 - Mick Sullivan: A "Meat" and Greet with the Past
Carrie and I are still on vacation this week but you can find us with all new interviews and episodes August 5. But Today we have a replay of our interview with Mick Sullivan. Mick is a friend of the show. He helped us begin our adventure in broadcasting and podcasting by giving us the tools and the confidence to get started. He is the creator of the award winning children’s history podcast, The Past and the Curious, which was recently named by the New York Times as one of the best children’s podcasts. In this time of quarantine and virtual learning, children’s podcasts have seen their downloads soar, including Mick’s. If you are doing any roadtrip travel with your kids this summer, give his podcast a listen. I promise the adults will enjoy it just as much as the kids. He sat down with us to talk about his new children’s book that had been published, The Meatshower. But Mick has another children’s book in the works.
Our guest today is a history buff who has taken his interest in the past to a whole new level. Mick Sullivan is a history educator at the Frazier History Museum and is in charge of their youth and family programs. But he is also the creator of the children’s history podcast, The Past and the Curious, which Common Sense Media lists as one of the best podcasts for kids. His quirky combo of humor and music keeps both kids and adults interested and sneaks in a little history in the process. His podcast includes a bit of an earworm song about local coffee shop Heine Bros Coffee So even if history isn’t your jam, check it out just for that tune.
The success of his podcast has led to the publishing of his first children’s book, The Meat Shower, which is a fun telling of the historical event of meat (yes I just said meat) literally raining down on a Kentucky farm in the 1800s. In fact what is even more curious, there is still no explanation of this unusual event today.
Mick tells us how his podcast grew out of the stories he tells kids at the Frazier’s children’s programs, how his background in musical performance has served him well when creating the variety of music for his podcast, what huge role vultures play in his new book, and all about his vision to have a series of books featuring quirky history for every reading level.
Books discussed in this episode:
1- The Meatshower by Mick Sullivan
2- Spying on the South by Tony Horwitz
3- Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz
4- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
5- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
You can find us on FB, instagram (@perksofbeingabookloverpod) and on our blog site at www.perksofbeingabooklover.com
Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.