zeno
Home
Explore
Religious
Music
News
Podcasts
Bible
By Genre
By Location
By Language
Download App
Log in
Sign up
Toggle Sidebar
zeno
PCN - Pennsylvania Cable Network
PA BOOKS on PCN
Literature
History
News & Politics
English
PA Books features authors of books about Pennsylvania-related topics. These hour-long conversations allow authors to discuss both their subject matter and inspiration behind the books.
Website
Episodes
300
12 November 2025
"A Saddlebag Doctor of the Mahantongo Valley of Pennsylvania" with Lawrence Knorr
The life and medical practice of Reuben Harris Muth, M.D., a rural saddlebag doctor, is reconstructed from an extant set of physician's daybooks, chronicling his professional activity from 1858 until 1898. Experience a rare glimpse of early medical history from an economic and cultural perspective. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com
28 min
03 November 2025
"Charles E. Hires and the Drink that Wowed a Nation" with Bill Double
Introduced at the 1876 Centennial Exposition and powered by an historic advertising campaign, Hires Root Beer - launched 10 years before Coca-Cola - blazed the trail for development of the American soft drink industry. Its inventor, Charles Elmer Hires, has been described as "a tycoon with the soul of a chemist." Donate | Signup | pcntv.com
25 min
22 October 2025
"A History of Philadelphia Sandwiches" with Mike Madaio
Philadelphia boasts some of the most delicious original sandwiches and passionate sandwich aficionados. From the classic cheesesteak to the delectable roast pork, the city's cultural and ethnic diversity has resulted in many of America's most established meals between bread. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com
56 min
09 June 2025
"No Longer Subjects of the British King" with Shawn McGhee
When news reached Parliament of the Boston radicals' destruction of the Royal East India Company's tea, it passed the Coercive Acts, a collection of punitive measures designed to rein in that insubordinate seaport town. The Coercive Acts unleashed a political firestorm as communities from Massachusetts to Georgia drafted resistance resolutions condemning Parliament's perceived encroachment upon...
58 min
05 May 2025
"The Year that Made America" with Tom McMillian
The untold story of how America's declaration of independence hinged on seven critical months in 1776 and the courageous votes that changed the world forever. This gripping account reveals the precarious path to American independence through a series of pivotal dates that history has nearly forgotten. While July 4th claims the glory, the actual vote for independence came on July 2nd-and even that...
56 min
14 April 2025
"Threshold to Valley Forge" with Sheilah Vance
From December 12-19, 1777, Washington's Army encamped in the towering hills of Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania, fifteen miles from Philadelphia. Known as the Threshold to Valley Forge, the Gulph Mills Encampment is often forgotten or minimized, falling as it did between the more famous military engagements of the Philadelphia Campaign and the well-known experience of the army at Valley Forge. This...
57 min
31 March 2025
"A Killer at the Door" with Bruce Mowday
In summer 2023, Chester County, Pennsylvania, was shaken by the daring escape of convicted murderer Danilo Cavalcante. Cavalcante scaled a prison wall, sparking a gripping two-week manhunt. He traversed forests, farmlands, and neighborhoods, evading law enforcement and causing schools to close, businesses to shutter, and streets to empty. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com
53 min
24 March 2025
"Life, Liberty, and Death on the Appalachian Frontier" with Robert Swift
Learn about the stories of the men and women who traveled across the mountain ranges and through the valleys that made up the Appalachian region, focusing on the 18th century leading to the American Revolution and events that occurred mainly in Pennsylvania and New York. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com
58 min
17 March 2025
"The Soul of Pittsburgh" with Ed Simon
Pittsburgh contains multitudes. From the decline of the steel industry and the exodus of a vast diaspora of Pittsburghers to its reinvention as a trendy mid-sized metropolis, the ethos of the Steel City remains ever-changing. This project was financed in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Department of Community and Economic Development. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com
57 min
26 February 2025
"Jazz in the Hill" with Colter Harper
From the 1920s through the 1960s, Pittsburgh's Hill District was the heart of the city's Black cultural life and home to a vibrant jazz scene. In Jazz in the Hill: Nightlife and Narratives of a Pittsburgh Neighborhood, Colter Harper looks at how jazz shaped the neighborhood and created a way of life. This project was financed in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the...
53 min