Best Knute Podcasts (2026)

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The Accidental Curator - 1973 - Episode 21 - Christmas in Afghanistan 37:37

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2M ago37:37

37:37

There was a brief window in time when it was safe to travel to Afghanistan as a tourist, or curious wanderer. December 1973 was just such a window. Here is a story of 8 young travellers following the "Hippie Trail" as it was known, on their way overland to India, with a sojourn through Afghanistan which led to Christmas in Kabul. Join them for this…

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Episode 01: The Norwegian and Immigrant (1880-1910) 26:25

4M ago26:25

26:25

Rockne: The Norwegian and Immigrant (1880-1910) This episode explores the early years of young Knute from Voss, Norway, to his days as a young man in Chicago, until the fateful day some friends tell him of a small Catholic college in Indiana called Notre Dame. Hosted by Alex Painter, a Notre Dame fan and historian. You can listen to Alex’s Notre Da…

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Episode 02: The Student-Athlete (1910-1914) 39:54

4M ago39:54

39:54

Rockne: The Student-Athlete (1910-1914) In this episode, we’ll dive into Knute Rockne’s college years at Notre Dame, exploring how he balanced his academics in chemistry, his budding athletic career, as well as other on-campus activities. On the football field, his pivotal role in the 1913 Army game and his work on perfecting the forward pass at Ce…

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Episode 03: Life after Graduation (1914-1918) 35:21

4M ago35:21

35:21

Rockne: Life after Graduation (1914-1918) In this episode, we’ll explore Knute Rockne’s journey after his 1914 graduation from the University of Notre Dame, including his development as an assistant coach under Jesse Harper, his brief career in semiprofessional and early professional football, and his marriage to Bonnie Skiles. As college athletics…

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Episode 04: Head Coach, Part One (1918-1920) 43:04

4M ago43:04

43:04

Rockne: The Head Coach, Part One (1918-1920) In this episode, we’re diving headfirst into the exhilarating, unpredictable early years of Knute Rockne’s tenure as head coach of the Notre Dame football team. Rockne, a man of boundless energy and relentless ambition, wasted no time in making his mark—but his path to glory was anything but smooth. As w…

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Episode 05: Head Coach, Part Two (1921-1924) 44:05

4M ago44:05

44:05

Episode 5: The Head Coach, Part Two (1921-1924) In this episode, we dive into Knute Rockne’s pivotal seasons from 1921 to 1924 - years that would shape Notre Dame football forever. Still reeling from the loss of his star, George Gipp, Rockne looks to reinvent and elevate his program, daring to take on college football’s biggest names on the grandes…

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Episode 06: Head Coach, Part Three (1925-1927) 39:47

4M ago39:47

39:47

Rockne: The Head Coach, Part Three (1925-1927) In this episode, we explore Knute Rockne’s 1925 to 1927 seasons—years that cemented Notre Dame’s status as a national box office sensation and elevated its coach to full-fledged celebrity status. So prominent was Rockne’s star power that multiple programs tried to lure him away from South Bend during t…

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Episode 07: Head Coach, Part Four (1928-1929) 46:23

4M ago46:23

46:23

Rockne: The Head Coach, Part Four (1928-1929) In this episode, we explore Knute Rockne’s and the University of Notre Dame football program’s 1928 and 1929 seasons. These years brought turbulence and transition; Rockne also endured the worst season of his Notre Dame tenure and, for the first time, he even faced a number of vocal critics within the N…

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Episode 08: Head Coach, Part Five (1930) 38:56

4M ago38:56

38:56

Episode 8: Rockne: The Head Coach, Part Five (1930) In this episode we pick up with Rockne as the elating 1929 National Championship season wrapped up and a new decade begins. Though lingering health concerns remain, Rockne faces 1930 with renewed energy, a full coaching staff, and a roster full of promise. As construction on Notre Dame’s long-awai…

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Episode 09: The Legacy (1931-Present) 39:31

4M ago39:31

39:31

Rockne: The Legacy (1931-Present) In this final episode, we follow the aftermath of Rockne’s sudden and tragic death and examine how the man who built a football powerhouse left behind something even greater. From the national outpouring of grief to the extraordinary funeral that became a first-of-its-kind media event, Rockne’s passing wasn’t just …

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A Journey to the Headwaters of the Columbia 33:27

9M ago33:27

33:27

The massive Columbia River travels more than 1,200 miles from start to finish. It crosses four mountain ranges, powers 14 hydroelectric dams and irrigates hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, among other feats. But its origins start humbly: in a gentle lake in the mountains of British Columbia. Cascade PBS’s resident historian Knute Berger j…

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The 1800s Influencer Who Made Tacoma Famous 32:29

9M ago32:29

32:29

In the second half of the 19th century, a businessman named George Francis Train rose to prominence through his success with global shipping and trade. As his wealth grew, so did his obsession with himself, and his tireless self-promotion made him a social media phenomenon of his age. Train is perhaps best known for the alleged relationship between…

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The Deadly Mouth of the Columbia 32:58

9M ago32:58

32:58

The tumultuous mouth of the Columbia River, near Astoria, Oregon, is beautiful but deadly. Thousands of ships have capsized and wrecked on its shores over the centuries. That’s earned it the menacing nickname “Graveyard of the Pacific,” although that’s not the only gloomy moniker in the region. Cascade PBS’s resident historian Knute Berger explored…

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The Accidental Curator - Episode 20 - The Panic Attack 39:00

10M ago39:00

39:00

Ottawa, 1980's - a young man, balancing his new wave musician aspirations with his soul-crushing job in the Federal Bureaucracy - has an unexpected epiphany of sorts via a Panic Attack. Written with fondness for the era, friends, and situations he found himself in - George uses self-deprecatory humour to drive this fun journey through the pubs, bed…

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The Strange Things That Happen to Bodies After Death 34:20

10M ago34:20

34:20

The Pacific Northwest has a reputation for the macabre. We’ll never escape the allure of Twin Peaks, for instance, or the terrible crimes of some of the most infamous serial killers in American history. But some of the weirdest things can happen to corpses after death. Did you know that dead bodies can turn into soap? Cascade PBS’s resident histori…

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Racism, History and the Great Outdoors 32:05

10M ago32:05

32:05

A few seasons ago, the Mossback’s Northwest video series profiled Catherine Montgomery, an early 20th-century wilderness advocate who has been dubbed “the Mother of the Pacific Crest Trail.” But after the video aired, a viewer reached out with some more information: Catherine Montgomery, a “progressive” of her time, expressed extremely racist views…

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The People of the Columbia River 34:57

10M ago34:57

34:57

In 1996, some of the oldest human remains ever found in North America were discovered along the banks of the Columbia River, ultimately illuminating Indigenous presence in the region since time immemorial. Long a crucial source of sustenance, culture and trade, the Pacific Northwest’s largest river has continued to be a vital part of human civiliza…

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How Horseless Carriages Took Off 36:29

10M ago36:29

36:29

At the turn of the 20th century, almost no one had a car in Seattle. There weren’t traffic laws or paved roads, and at first, only the wealthiest people could own these “horseless carriages.” Within a couple of decades, though, cars were everywhere, and Pacific Northwesterners were using their cars for all kinds of intrepid adventures, from long-ha…

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The Forces That Carved the Columbia 28:45

11M ago28:45

28:45

The Columbia River has been carved up by more than a dozen dams over the past century. But it’s the colossal floods and lava flows from millions of years ago that truly set it on its winding path. How do we really know what we know about the Columbia? To better understand this history, Cascade PBS’s resident historian Knute Berger joined forces wit…

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Behind the 10th Season of 'Mossback's Northwest' 50:52

1y ago50:52

50:52

At a live event, Knute Berger, Stephen Hegg and Nick Zentner discussed Mossback’s Northwest and the 10th season's focus on the Columbia River. Mossback’s Northwest is still going strong, with its most recent season covering everything from the Columbia River to a history of racist exclusion in the outdoors. In October, Cascade PBS put on a live eve…

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The Accidental Curator - Episode 19 - "I Could Tell You Wasn't a Roughneck" 53:10

1y ago53:10

53:10

"A Roughneck's Journey: Trials and Triumphs" In Episode 19 of the podcast, the host returns after a six-month hiatus, sharing tales from a bustling summer at the Shavasana Gallery and Cafe on Mayne Island. As the busy season winds down, the host revisits past ventures, including a brief stint as a roughneck in the oil fields of northern Alberta in …

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The Accidental Curator: Episode 18 - The Fourth Corner 29:07

1+ y ago29:07

29:07

In this episode of The Accidental Curator, George Bathgate shares a gripping story titled "The Fourth Corner." As he prepares to reopen his art gallery, George reflects on three significant car accidents he has witnessed over the years in his Kitsilano neighborhood. Each incident, occurring at different corners, serves as a vivid illustration of li…

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Meet Seattle's Bird Woman 31:31

1+ y ago31:31

31:31

Adelaide Lowry Pollock was an educator, birder, author and believer in the power of civic participation at the turn of the 20th century. In the early 1900s, pioneering educator Adelaide Lowry Pollock was the first woman to be named principal of a Seattle grade school. A lifelong love of birds dominated her curriculum. Her students went on birding f…

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The Wood That Won the Wars 31:41

1+ y ago31:41

31:41

Sitka trees were key military materiel in both World Wars. Knute Berger shares how the need for wood and the women who harvested it changed logging. In the early 20th century, Sitka spruce, a giant conifer native to the Pacific Northwest, became known as an excellent material for building airplanes. As a result, when the U.S. entered World War I, t…

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Minoru Yamasaki's Architectural Legacy 29:23

1+ y ago29:23

29:23

Minoru Yamasaki was among the most influential architects of the 20th century. Knute Berger tells the story. Minoru Yamasaki was born in Seattle in 1912, studied architecture at the University of Washington and went on to design some of the most celebrated buildings of the 20th century. Among them: the World Trade Center in New York and the Pacific…

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The Hike That Stopped a Highway 31:00

1+ y ago31:00

31:00

Environmental activist Polly Dyer teamed up with Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas in the 1950s to keep a stretch of Washington wild. Today, more than 73 miles of Washington’s rugged Olympic Coast is still rugged. It’s accessible only to hikers, not cars. Part of the reason for that is a famous 1958 beach hike led by former U.S. Supreme Cour…

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When Buffalo Bill Came to Seattle 32:31

1+ y ago32:31

32:31

Audiences loved Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, but what he sold as “authentic” was anything but. Knute Berger shares how the myth shaped our idea of the frontier. You’ve probably heard of Buffalo Bill. The name is nearly synonymous with “the Wild West,” a kind of cultural mythology created as white settlers colonized the American West in the late 1…

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Happy as a Clam in the Pacific Northwest 31:03

1+ y ago31:03

31:03

Folk songs, clam bakes, aquaculture and more: Knute Berger explores the myriad ways clams have shaped our region’s culture. Clams are among the Pacific Northwest’s most vital natural resources. From thousands of years of aquaculture to folk songs and university mascots, the celebration and consumption of clams permeates local food and culture. Casc…

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The Greatest Camo Job in History 32:41

1+ y ago32:41

32:41

Boeing's Plant 2 was so crucial that the military asked Hollywood to hide it from the enemy. Knute Berger shares the story. From the moment the United States entered World War II, Seattle was vital to the war effort. Boeing’s Plant 2 was a key manufacturing hub for thousands of B-17 bombers, one of the Allies’ most important tools in Europe. Fearin…

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The Deadliest Avalanches in North America 33:42

1+ y ago33:42

33:42

Back-to-back disasters in Washington and B.C. killed more than 150 people in 1910. Knute Berger digs into the traumatic circumstances and their fallout. In the stormy winter of 1910, an avalanche struck two stalled trains in Wellington, a railroad outpost in Washington’s Central Cascades. Three days later, another one blanketed dozens of rail worke…

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How Mount Mazama Became a Lake 29:22

2y ago29:22

29:22

Crater Lake wasn’t always a lake. Knute Berger tells the story of when a blast 50 times the size of Mt St. Helens' blanketed the PNW in ash. Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon is known for its crown jewel: a brilliantly blue and very deep alpine lake. But some 8,000 years ago, this lake was a mountain. Then the mountain erupted, blowing i…

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Preserving Asahel Curtis’ Legacy 31:20

2y ago31:20

31:20

Asahel Curtis shot thousands of images in the early 20th century. Knute Berger talks about the effort to share them with the public for the first time. Asahel Curtis, the renowned Pacific Northwest photographer, was amazingly prolific. He documented regional life for 50 years, from the 1890s to the 1940s. Crosscut’s resident historian Knute Berger …

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The Mother of the Pacific Crest Trail 30:55

2y ago30:55

30:55

Catherine Montgomery spearheaded a movement to preserve old growth in Washington forests. Knute Berger shares her story. In the early 1900s in Washington, women couldn’t yet vote, but many formed powerful civic groups to advocate for everything from prison reform to forest preservation. One woman stands out: the mountaineer, teacher, activist and s…

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The Accidental Curator – Episode 17 – “Knute, Bobby Darrin, and the Law of Unintended Consequences” & Joseph Synn Kune Loh’s exhibit, “Who Am I” a review by Bill Maylone 23:57

2y ago23:57

23:57

a short story I wrote several years ago, about how young, self-absorbed drunks on a bus could have inadvertently added fuel to the revolutionary fires that were building…in pre-revolutionary Iran…and a review of Joseph Synn Kune Loh’s exhibit, “Who Am I” by Bill MayloneBy George Bathgate

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The Explosion that Rocked Seattle 31:37

2y ago31:37

31:37

In 1915, Germany wanted to keep the United States from joining World War I. Knute Berger explains how the fight came to the Northwest. In the years leading up to World War I, Germany and its sympathizers tried to prevent the United States from entering the conflict. An intricate network of spies and saboteurs attempted to sway public opinion as wel…

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The Black Migration to Victoria 33:16

2y ago33:16

33:16

Still encountering racism in the 'free' states of the West, some Black communities sought the American Dream in Canada. Before the Civil War, many states in the American West were considered “free” because the institution of slavery was outlawed. That didn’t mean, however, that these places were free from racism and legalized discrimination. So whe…

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Putting the P in P-Patch 30:02

2y ago30:02

30:02

P-Patches launched a modern agricultural movement in the 1970s, sprouting from a small family farm in Wedgwood. Seattle was once full of farms. But as the city developed, land-use regulation and other forces began to push farmers out. One farming family feeling the squeeze in Seattle in the 1970s helped launch a program that has had a profound impa…

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The Past and Future of Grizzlies in Washington 31:59

2y ago31:59

31:59

The North Cascades' bear population thrived in the 19th century, but now almost none are left. Advocates are working to bring them back. The iconic grizzly bear once roamed the North Cascades. Grizzly bones have also been found as far west as Whidbey Island. Today, however, there are almost no grizzlies left in Washington state. Some government age…

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The Flight Heard Round the World 27:58

2y ago27:58

27:58

In 1924, four airplanes took off from what’s now Magnuson Park. Six months and more than 26,000 miles later, half the fleet made it back. The 1920s marked an era of aviation. After World War I, many powerful nations focused on the new technology and rushed to be the first to use it to circumnavigate the globe. In 1924, the U.S. military selected ei…

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The Accidental Curator - Episode 16 - Saved By Da Mizzles 16:53

2+ y ago16:53

16:53

Two young long-haired travellers arrive in Amsterdam in 1973. One of them, hopes and prays that the rest of his "round the world adventure" will improve over "day one"...it can only get better! Or can it?By George Bathgate

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Why Is There a Stonehenge in Washington? 25:26

2+ y ago25:26

25:26

The millionaire built a 'castle' on the Columbia River and later a replica of the English monument. The Stonehenge that sits atop Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, has long inspired speculation of its purpose and imitators to its form. One of those imitators overlooks the Columbia River in Washington state where it inspires questions: Who buil…

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How the Frango Became a Northwest Fixture 32:48

2+ y ago32:48

32:48

For decades, department stores competed for customers. Knute Berger recalls how Frederick & Nelson lured them in with a chocolate mint truffle. Food does more than feed us. It connects us, to each other, to traditions and to place. This is true everywhere, but especially in the Pacific Northwest, where an abundance of life creates endless options f…

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The Naked Truth of Nature Man 30:44

2+ y ago30:44

30:44

Earnest Darling was a regular Northwestern kid until an illness inspired him to shed his clothes and take to the woods. Fame followed. On the desk of Crosscut's resident historian Kute Berger sits a black-and-white photograph of a man with a kind of contemporary look. He is standing, bearded, in what looks like a tropical setting. And he’s wearing …

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When Holllywood Came to Seattle 34:41

2+ y ago34:41

34:41

When a film is shot in a city, it is often a big deal. There are lots of trucks, lots of crew and lots of traffic disruption. It’s big business, and for the latter decades of the 20th century it was business that was often done in Seattle. Tugboat Annie, the first Hollywood film shot in the Emerald City, came to town in the 1930s. But it wasn’t unt…

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The Tree Stump Craze That Swept the Northwest 31:01

2+ y ago31:01

31:01

During the timber boom, opportunists turned the remains of old-growth trees into homes and postcard spectacles. The timber boom of the early 20th century reshaped both the places and the population of the Pacific Northwest. At one point, 63 percent of wage earners in Washington were drawing a paycheck from the industry that was felling the old-grow…

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When the Confederacy Came to Seattle 30:44

2+ y ago30:44

30:44

Decades after the Civil War, southern sympathizers sought to rewrite history. Knute Berger explains how those efforts were received in the Northwest. When Gone With the Wind premiered in Seattle in 1940, it was an event. Moviegoers who ventured Downtown to attend a showing of the Civil War drama were met with fanfare. The street outside The 5th Ave…

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The Case of the Pickled Orca 27:13

2+ y ago27:13

27:13

Long before an industry was built around capturing orcas, a tragic encounter between a wayward whale and humanity foretold decades of exploitation. There are few animals that capture the imagination of human beings the way that orcas have. For decades people have paid money to see them, scientists have studied them intently and, in the Seattle area…

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The New Deal and the Northwest 28:54

2+ y ago28:54

28:54

From cheap power to rugged hiking trails, Franklin D. Roosevelt's government transformed the region. When President Roosevelt launched the New Deal in 1933, he set off a decade-long mobilization that would help move America out of the Great Depression. It was a massive program that not only provided jobs, but also modernized infrastructure througho…

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The Accidental Curator - Episode 15 - The Astrologer by Joseph Synn Kune Loh & Transient Epileptic Amnesia 20:40

3y ago20:40

20:40

Two stories - or memoirs - today - Joseph Synn Kune Loh's short story "The Astrologer", and Transient Epileptic Amnesia...one is a young man's encounter at a New Age Conference in Montreal, and the other is one more good reason why you should avoid a life of excess😊By George Bathgate

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The Accidental Curator - Episode 14 - The Blüthner 20:57

3y ago20:57

20:57

After receiving a 100 year old Blüthner piano, I became fascinated with its long journey to Mayne Island and Shavasana Gallery. Here is a story of how to sleuth the wandering path of an "accidental" piano. (to watch a 5 minute compilation video which I made called "11 Pieces for the Blüthner" go here: https://youtu.be/f_o4JUtccH8 )…