Month: February 2025

TH2024 Ep02 3 Mother Theresa

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:42 — 9.8MB)

Season 2024 – Talk 02.3 – Mother Teresa

In ‘Mother Teresa’ Graham Meade tells us the history of Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

The Burning House Debate:

This is the third in a series of short talks given to the members of the Farnham u3a World History group.

There are a number of famous people from history staying in the ‘burning house’. Each speaker pleads for their subject to be saved.

Early years:

I was born Agnes Gonj Bojadjou on 26th of August 1910 the youngest of three children. By blood I’m Albanian, by citizenship an Indian, by faith a Catholic nun. My name translates to Mary Teresa.

My mother raises us after my father dies when I am 8. It is a devoutly Catholic family and my mother is always very kind to those less fortunate than us.

One of its priests at our church introduces me to the missionary work being undertaken in the wider world, particularly in India.

By the age of 12 I want to dedicate my life to God. I leave our family home at 18 to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto. They are an Irish community of nuns who send missionaries to India.

First steps in Kolkata:

My first missionary post is at St Mary’s High School in Calcutta. I teach young children history and geography. We have no supplies or equipment, so I teach by writing in the mud with wooden sticks and making use of what little other resources I can find. During this early period as a missionary, I have no income and little access to food.

Listen to Graham tell us how from these early beginnings the ministry grows.

About this podcast:

This is an edited recording of a talk given to the Farnham u3a World History: Ancient, Medieval and Modern  Group.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music,  Apple Podcasts,  Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher , Vurbl , You Tube and others.

AKM Music licenses Media Magazine for use with this talk.

© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham u3a World History: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Group 2018 – 2025

USRJ S3 Ep40 New Haven to Boston South

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:01 — 22.9MB)

New Haven to Boston South –  US Rail Journeys
Series 3 Episode 40

In ‘New  Haven to New York’ I travel on the final rail section of my tour of the United States, this time using the high speed Acela service.

Please click on a thumbnail to see the photographs that go with this podcast:

New Haven:

New Haven Union Station is the main passenger station in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the third station in the city of New Haven. Opening in 1920, it is in the beaux-arts  style.

The 1961 bankruptcy of the New Haven Railroad led to a transfer to the Penn Central Transportation Company on January 1, 1969. The next year Penn Central undergoes bankruptcy, and the station building closes in 1973 to cut costs.

Reopening after extensive renovation in early 1985, it is now the most important transport hub in New Haven. Today it is the busiest railway station in Connecticut.

I do like to be beside the seaside!

It is a beautiful afternoon as our route travels along the coast. I can see many people on the beaches enjoying the seaside. There are many boats in the marinas as well as on the water.

Providence station:

Providence station serves Amtrak and MBTA Commuter Rail. It is the 11th busiest Amtrak station in the country, and the second-busiest on the MBTA Commuter Rail system outside Boston.

The station dates from 1986 and is in the brutalist style, with a large square clocktower. It has been positively received by critics, receiving a citation in the 1983 Progressive Architecture Awards.

Onwards:

We then travel through the curiously named Route 128 station. Even more strangely, the conductor announces it as Route and not Rout. We then stop at Boston’s Back Bay station before our arrival into Boston South station.

Listen to the podcast to hear about my journey north from ‘New Haven to Boston South’.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music,  Apple Podcasts,  Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Vurbl , You Tube and others.

Music:

AKM Music licenses Steam Railway for use in this podcast.

TH2024 02.2 Mr Punch

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:27 — 10.5MB)

Season 2024 – Talk 02.2 – Mr Punch

In ‘Mr Punch’ Diana Butler tells us the history of Mr Punch who is far from being just a seaside puppet show.

Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk.

The Burning House Debate:

This is the second in a series of short talks given to the members of the Farnham u3a World History group.

There are a number of famous people from history staying in the ‘burning house’. Each speaker pleads for their subject to be saved.

Early days in history:

Mr. Punch has his origins in Italy. We can trace the harlequin or pantaloon back to the burlesque mime characters of ancient Rome. Herculaneum has a statue with features of Mr. Punch. The showman’s sounds come from the whistles the Romans used.

Early days in Britain:

Religious dramas, political satire and opera are a feature of Middle Ages England. Over the years the clergy find that the puppets, with their humorous dialogues and popular songs, are not suitable for illustrating Bible stories .

In 1677 Edward Ravenscroft, at the Theatre Royal, has Punch on stage in a Restoration comedy.

Samuel Pepys:

In 1660, Samuel Pepys observes a marionette show featuring an early version of Mr. Punch in Covent Garden. Pepys describes the event in his diary as an Italian puppet play.

Listen to Diana tell us the story of this puppet whose history goes back many centuries.

About this podcast:

This is an edited recording of a talk given to the Farnham u3a World History: Ancient, Medieval and Modern  Group.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music,  Apple Podcasts,  Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher , Vurbl , You Tube and others.

AKM Music licenses Media Magazine for use with this talk.

© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham u3a World History: Ancient, Medieval and Modern Group 2018 – 2025

USRJ S3 Episode 39 New York to New Haven

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:42 — 18.0MB)

New York to New Haven –  US Rail Journeys Series 3 Episode 39

In ‘New York to New Haven’ I travel from New York’s Moynihan Train Hall on the high speed Acela service.

Please click on a thumbnail to see the photographs that go with this podcast:

Acela:

Acela is Amtrak‘s flagship passenger service on the Northeast Corridor running between Washington, D.C. and Boston. They are the fastest in the Americas, reaching 150 miles per hour. Sadly the trains only reach 150 mph for 49.9 miles of the 457-mile route.

Acela is busy with over 2.9 million passengers in 2023. It is only beaten by the slower and less expensive Northeast Regional service with over 9 million passengers. It accounts for around 25% of Amtrak’s total revenue.

The fastest speed is on tracks between Mansfield, Massachusetts, and Richmond, Rhode Island, and South Brunswick and Trenton, New Jersey.

Acela uses active tilting technology, allowing the train to travel at higher speeds on the sharply curved North East Corridor.

Most of the high-speed operation is on the 226-mile route from in New York to Union Station in Washington with a fastest scheduled time of 2 hours and 45 minutes and an average speed of 82 miles per hour including stops.

Penn Station – Moynihan Train Hall:

I leave from Penn Station for the last time in this series of journeys on the 2.10 pm Acela service to Boston South Station.

It is the main intercity station in New York and claimed to be the busiest transport facility in the Western Hemisphere, with, in 2019, more than 600,000 passengers each weekday.

There are 21 tracks fed by seven tunnels. Amtrak owns the station and commuter rail services are operated by the Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit.

Stamford station:

Stamford station, officially known as the Stewart B. McKinney Transportation Center, serves passengers traveling on Metro-North Railroad‘s New Haven Line, Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, and CTrail‘s Shore Line East. It also hosts Greyhound, Peter Pan, and CTtransit buses.

United Airlines codeshares with Amtrak to provide a service from Stamford station to the station at Newark Liberty International Airport – United’s Northeast hub.

New Haven:

Union Station, also known as New Haven Railroad Station, also has, like Stamford, an IATA code.

Today’s station is the third one in New Haven.

Listen to the podcast to hear about the rest of my journey north from ‘New York to New Haven’.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music,  Apple Podcasts,  Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Vurbl , You Tube and others.

Music:

AKM Music licenses Steam Railway and In Lightening for use in this podcast.