Edward Peppitt is the southeast England representative for the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, or ALK, and he produces and hosts a podcast called Keeping Watch. He’s also a fundraising ambassador for Shift MS, a charity aimed at keeping multiple sclerosis sufferers as active as possible. Ed has written a new book called The Beacon Bike.… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 273 – Edward Peppitt, author and host of the “Keeping Watch” podcast

The Coast Guard Museum Northwest, located on an active Coast Guard base on the waterfront in Seattle, Washington, opened in 1976. The museum serves as a showcase for some of the Coast Guard’s most important stories, lessons, and accomplishments, and the museum’s extensive archives are available to researchers. The guest in this episode, Gene Davis,… Continue reading Light Hearted 272 – Gene Davis, director of Coast Guard Museum Northwest

The guest in this episode, Tony Ashdon, spent 22 years in the Coast Guard including some time as a lighthouse keeper. Tony spent some years on an aids to navigation team that serviced lighthouses and other aids in District One, in the northeastern U.S. He was also part of an inspection team for a while.… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 271 – Tony Ashdon, Coast Guard lightkeeper

The podcast “The Lighthouse Lowdown” was launched in 2022 by two residents of Kansas City, Missouri, Emily Straight and Vince Bailey. To date they have published almost 50 episodes, covering history, spooky stories, and all the “things that make lighthouses cooler than your average tower.” Emily is a nautical-loving, lighthouse enthusiast who is excited to… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 270 – Emily Straight and Vince Bailey, “The Lighthouse Lowdown”

The Michigan Lighthouse Alliance (MLA), founded in 2003, encompasses more than 50 preservation groups and lighthouse stakeholders from around the state of Michigan. The purpose of the Alliance is to advocate for the preservation of the historic aids to navigation on the Great Lakes. The MLA holds a conference every two years, and this year’s… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 269 – Buzz Hoerr and the Michigan Lighthouse Alliance

This is an edited version of an interview that was featured in Light Hearted episode 44 in January 2020. Joseph Smith has been a theatrical performer based in New York City since 1995. His passion is to create excitement and curiosity about history by giving voice to stories that celebrate the human spirit. He has written… Continue reading Light Hearted Lite #2 – Joseph Smith & his portrayal of Augustin Fresnel

We’ve produced almost 300 episodes of the podcast Light Hearted in the past five years. Most of the interviews we’ve done have been a half hour to an hour. We realize that listening to an hour-long podcast is not something everyone wants to do, so we’re introducing something we call Light Hearted Lite. In this… Continue reading Light Hearted Lite #1 – Sophie Blackall

There are three segments in this episode. First, 11-year-old Guinevere Porter and her best friend Dani, Kentucky residents, talk about their visits to some beautiful and very tall lighthouses in Georgia, Florida, and elsewhere. As they correctly point out, we need kids to get interested in lighthouses. They will be the ones caring for them… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 267 – Patrick Mont and Chelsea clocks; Guin and Dani talk lighthouses; Portsmouth Harbor Light, NH

The seas off the northern California coast are notoriously rough, and no area is more treacherous than St. George Reef, which is the tip of a submerged volcanic mountain about six miles offshore. Construction of a lighthouse on the reef began in 1883. It took nine years to complete the massive 90-foot-tall granite tower on… Continue reading Light Hearted ep 266 – John Zimmerman and Jen Lewis, St. George Reef, California