Advertise on podcast: Off the Path

Rating

★★★★★

4.6

from

24 reviews

Description

For Davis Dunavin, being a journalist is a little bit like being a cross between a wandering storyteller and a detective. For nearly eight years, he's set sail to learn about pirate history, hiked the Appalachian Trail, spent the night in Lizzie Borden's house and browsed the books in Mark Twain's library, all in search of the hidden stories buried in everyday places across the Northeast.This season on Off The Path, he digs deep to explore the origins of things that are ubiquitous, Teddy Roosevelt, the tuxedo, the first video game, as well as those stories we think we already know, like the first airplane flight or stories that aren't as well-known, like the beginnings of the artist behind the Barack Obama “Hope” poster. But every single episode involves an element of surprise, an ironic twist or a fascinating connection you might not expect when the story begins.

Unlock Off the Path podcast Email contact info,
Listeners & Audience details

Email contact information

Direct podcast contact details

Listeners

Audience numbers & engagement insights

Audience details

Podcast Insights

Social media

Check Off the Path social media presence

Podcast episodes

Check latest episodes from Off the Path podcast

Revolutionary: NYC's Fraunces Tavern, where Washington toasted and the cabinet met

2026/07/03

The Sons of Liberty, the activists who helped start the American Revolution, liked to frequent a watering hole on the tip of Manhattan Island called Fraunces Tavern. The tavern played more than one surprising role during the American Revolution. 250 years later, it still serves libations — and celebrates its history.

Revolutionary: The only intersection that predates 1776 and survived a British burning

2026/07/02

There’s only one known intersection in America where the buildings on all four corners were built before the American Revolution. The place is Kingston, New York -- the state’s first capital -- until British troops burned it to the ground. But that corner survived - and a few dozen more structures - thanks to some hefty building materials.

Revolutionary: the war heroine who disguised herself as a man to fight

2026/07/01

The first woman in American history to get an honorable discharge or a military pension served almost 250 years ago. Her name was Deborah Sampson. She disguised herself as a man and fought in several skirmishes -- and was injured -- before she was found out. Her adopted hometown, Sharon, Massachusetts, still honors her memory.

Revolutionary: 250 years later, the 'Liberty Tree' blooms again

2026/06/30

Long before the first shots of the American Revolution were fired, there was -- a tree. An elm tree in a grove in Boston, where some say the Revolution truly started. It became famous across the colonies in paintings, engravings and poems as the Liberty Tree. Now, 250 years after the British unceremoniously chopped it down, Liberty Trees are springing up once again.

Brave Little State: The case of the missing Tinmouth apple

2026/01/19

Today, a mystery rooted in Vermont history: the case of the missing Tinmouth Apple. Once thought to be lost, the search for this rare apple reveals how one community worked to preserve a piece of its agricultural heritage. Thanks to our friends Sabine Poux, Josh Craneat, Vermont Public and their podcast Brave Little State for sharing this story with us. Here’s a link to the original episode.

The Twice-Lost City of Dura-Europos

2026/01/12

It’s believed that some of the oldest preserved depictions of Jesus Christ are from a town in Syria, abandoned nearly 2000 years ago. The paintings, on a rough stone wall, can be seen at the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven.

Vampires! On a Boat! In New York City!

2025/10/31

Every Halloween, WSHU’s Off the Path gets a little .... spooky. Visits to Lizzie Borden’s house, a haunted pirate cave, and Sleepy Hollow, to name a few. This year, reporter Davis Dunavin finds himself on a boat in the middle of New York Harbor — surrounded by creatures of the night — for New York City’s 5th annual vampire cruise. The Gothic Vampire Cruise on the Hudson is co-hosted and features music by The Sedona Effect

Looking for the Original "Podunk Town"... In Connecticut

2025/09/11

The origins of the word "podunk" are shrouded in history. In the Algonquin language, it most likely meant a boggy place, a swamp or a junction of streams and rivers. But we now use it to mean a small, unimportant, and isolated place. There was also a tribe called the Podunk, one of many who lived and fished on the Connecticut River.

Off the Path Revisited: Where the Appalachian Trail Began

2025/08/21

The Appalachian Trail stretches more than 2,000 miles from Maine to Georgia. It was the brainchild of an idealistic forester who drew inspiration from a mountain top in Vermont.

The Making of Theodore Roosevelt

2025/08/14

We like to picture Theodore Roosevelt as this vigorous, energetic, hyper-manly guy. And he was. But he didn’t start that way. He began as a bedridden, asthma-stricken boy in New York’s East Village. He went through a lot to become the guy who led the charge up San Juan Hill and served as our 36th president.

Andre the Giant Has A Posse

2025/07/24

Back in the summer of 1989, a lot of weird little stickers appeared on the streets of Providence, Rhode Island. They were on walls, trash cans and utility poles. You’d find them outside bars, record stores and skate shops. They were all the same, a grainy black-and-white picture of a bulky scowling man, with the words: “Andre the Giant has a Posse.”

A Trip to Tuxedo Park, the Cradle of American Etiquette

2025/07/03

It began with one of America's richest men jumping out of a moving train to trudge through the mud and scope out the property. It was the cultivating grounds for the 'queen of American etiquette,' Emily Post, as well as the most iconic men's suit in the modern world. This week, join us for a tour of Tuxedo Park, New York!

Did a German immigrant in CT fly before the Wright Brothers?

2025/06/24

Everyone knows the story of the first manned airplane flight, right? The Ohio-based Wright Brothers flew a biplane more than 850 feet across North Carolina’s Outer Banks in December of 1903. That historical event is featured on the license plates and on the state quarters of Ohio and North Carolina. But some people say someone else deserves the credit: a German immigrant named Gustave Whitehead. He supposedly flew his flying machine two years before the Wright Brothers in Fairfield, Connecticut. Additional mixing by Bella Fabbo.Historical voices by Carter Dewees and Bill Buchner.

Spacewar! Or, the Rise of the Computer Bums

2025/05/29

The first widely-played video game wasn’t Pong, or Donkey Kong, or Space Invaders. It wasn’t made by Nintendo or Atari. Instead, imagine a bunch of scruffy young nerds at MIT in 1962, given free rein over the latest computer technology. The result: Spacewar!

Trailer: Where It All Began

2025/05/22

This season on Off The Path, Davis Dunavin digs deep to explore the origins of things that are ubiquitous, Teddy Roosevelt, the tuxedo, the first video game, as well as those stories we think we already know, like the first airplane flight or stories that aren't as well-known, like the beginnings of the artist behind the Barack Obama “Hope” poster. But every single episode involves an element of surprise, an ironic twist or a fascinating connection you might not expect when the story begins.