Light Hearted

This episode features the audio from our live stream on October 7. The guest is Ben Ridings, the curator for Cape May MAC in New Jersey. The organization manages the Cape May Lighthouse and two other historic properties. The 1859 Cape May Lighthouse is at the southernmost point in the state of New Jersey, on the north side of the entrance to Delaware Bay. Today the lighthouse is a major tourist attraction, and more than 3 million people have climbed it since it opened to the public in 1988. Be

This is an edited version of an interview first heard in May 2020. The guest is Richard Skidmore, who was the modern day keeper of Gay Head Lighthouse on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts for 31 years. The light station at Gay Head was the first on Martha’s Vineyard, beginning service in 1799. The light station at Gay Head was the first on Martha’s Vineyard, beginning service in 1799. The 1856 brick lighthouse tower that stands today is perched on the famous Gay Head cliffs, which were named fo

This is the audio from a live stream on September 16, 2026. The guest is Lenore Skomal, author of an acclaimed book about the celebrated lighthouse heroine Ida Lewis. Lenore Skomal Ida Lewis began tending Lime Rock Light in Newport, Rhode Island, at the age of fifteen after her father, the keeper of the light, was disabled by a stroke. Ida was officially appointed to the job in 1879, and she remained at Lime Rock until her death in 1911. Ida saved at least 18 lives during her light keeping care

This is the audio from the Light Hearted Live episode of September 9. The guest is the acclaimed maritime historian and author Eric Jay Dolin. Eric grew up near the beaches of New York and Connecticut, and from an early age he was fascinated by the ocean. He earned a masters degree in environmental management from Yale, then a Ph.D. in environmental policy and planning from MIT. Eric has written 17 books and many articles on American history. His books include Leviathan: The History of Whaling

Ed Metcalf is from Winthrop, Massachusetts, on the north side of Boston Harbor. He served as a police officer in Winthrop, and he then worked for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. He became the game warden on Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 1974, and he still lives there today. Born in 1933, his memories reach back to the late 1930s. Some of his visits to the harbor islands were guided by the popular historian and author Edward Rowe Snow. He also frequented lighthouses in the harbor in the 1

This is an edited version of an interview with Jem Finer that was first heard in June 2020. In an area of London known as the Docklands is a part of the waterfront known as the Trinity Buoy Wharf. On the wharf is London’s only lighthouse. The lighthouse at the Trinity Buoy Wharf was never used for navigation. Completed in 1866, it was used by Trinity House for the training of prospective lighthouse keepers. The scientist Michael Faraday also carried out experiments there. Musician and composer