Season One: Trailer

"Feel Familiar? Emotionally Intelligent History" explores crucial, though sometimes overlooked, people and events from the past to gain a better understanding of current events. It links macro-level developments in politics and society to relatable, individual feelings and thoughts. Season One focuses on the Astor Place Theatre Riot of 1849 in which two groups—those supporting "patriotic" American-born actor Edwin Forrest and fans of British stage legend William Charles Macready, respectively—came to blows in an early "culture war." Things turned violent when the army opened fire on a crowd outside the Astor Place Opera House in lower Manhattan, killing dozens, mostly innocent bystanders. It was rightly labeled as a massacre and a crucial moment in American history. The show's host and creator, Andrew L. Erdman, is an historian and psychotherapist. To help him unpack this disturbing and curiously foreshadowing event is actor-comedian Mary Birdsong ("Reno 911," "Succession.)

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Theme Music: Kelly Dwyer. Logo Design: Mary Birdsong. Producer/Editor: Joshua Dudley.