A live weekly radio adventure through Indiana history with host Nelson Price.
Show airs live at 11:30 a.m. each Saturday on WICR 88.7 FM in Indianapolis.

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About us

Hoosier History Live! was developed by Nelson Price and Molly Head and is independently produced along with a consortium of Central Indiana journalists, historians, event planners, marketers, and web and audio artists/technicians.

Many thanks to WICR 88.7 “The Diamond” for hosting Hoosier History Live! and being Central Indiana’s station of choice for local public radio production and programming.

Our host

Nelson Price is an Indianapolis-based author, journalist, and historian. An award-winning former feature writer/columnist for The Indianapolis Star, he specializes in writing books about famous Hoosiers (both contemporary and historic figures) and Indianapolis city history.

Drawing from his popular books, which include Indiana Legends: Famous Hoosiers from Johnny Appleseed to David Letterman, Legendary Hoosiers and Indianapolis Then and Now, Nelson provides commentary on motor-coach tours across Indiana.

A fifth-generation Hoosier, Nelson grew up in Indianapolis and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University-Bloomington. He has taught journalism at IUPUI and currently serves on the boards of eight civic, history and journalism--related organizations. He regularly speaks at schools across the state as part of PTA-sponsored presentations about Indiana history and writes for several magazines. Nelson has been named a Sagamore of the Wabash by two Indiana governors. He also is the author of Indianapolis: Leading The Way.

“The show is a blast! By showcasing all aspects of our heritage in a captivating, yet informative, way we’re proving that history can be dynamic.”

Nelson can be reached at nelson@hoosierhistorylive.info

To receive information about ordering Nelson Price's books, visit Hawthorne Publishing at www.hawthornepub.com.

Roadtripper

“Roadtripper” Chris Gahl is the associate director of communications at the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association (ICVA). He calls in to the show each week with a heritage-related travel pick. An Indianapolis native, Chris grew up hearing the sounds of the Indy 500 cars from his back yard. Before his role in the tourism arena promoting Indianapolis, he was part owner of a PR firm in Hawaii.

Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Butler University and is chipping away at a master’s in journalism from Indiana University Purdue University -Indianapolis. He sits on Butler University’s Young Alumni Board, the Public Relations Society of America’s Hoosier Chapter Board, and the Career Services Board at Butler University. A true roadtripper, Chris's travels have taken him to 33 different islands worldwide, trekking across Europe and even exploring Africa.

"Indianapolis and our entire state have so many unique offerings," Chris says. "It’s fun to uncover these hidden gems and encourage listeners to get out and explore. From food festivals to eclectic exhibits, from art openings to family-owned restaurants, traveling has always been an integral part of my family’s Hoosier History."

Chris can be reached at chris@hoosierhistorylive.info.

Our producer and development director

Molly Head was always a self-starter and innovator, and was writing and producing plays for "kids in the neighborhood" at age 7. She says that, as an adult, she likes producing live with call-in talk radio shows as a way of projecting "a little intelligence, dignity, and humanity" into the rather hardened and sterile media landscape. "Sometimes you have to launch a fun and intelligent show like Hoosier History Live! out there like a missile," she says. "I think it's pretty bleak out there!"

She has several decades of experience working in media, marketing, and production, including WFYI, WICR, and Radio Mozart in Indianapolis, Video Access Center in Columbus, Indiana, and WBRC-TV News in Birmingham, Alabama. She has served as writer and editor for AdScript, a monthly publication of the Ad Club of Indianapolis. Molly handles most of the “behind the scenes” development for Hoosier History Live!, including fund raising, promotion, website development and show distribution.

Molly has worked in national customer support for McGraw-Hill in Houston, Texas, supporting an online trading system for the petroleum industry. She also worked as national customer service manager for Legislex Associates, based in Columbus, Indiana, an online legislative information service. Both online services had Fortune 500 clients and involved national, and some international, business travel.

She has a B.A. in urban studies from Antioch College. She hails from Columbus, Indiana for her high school years, and, although born in Illinois, has pioneer Hoosier ancestors on her mother’s side. Since high school she has lived in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Epes, Alabama (find that on a map!), and Houston. She is proud to now call Fall Creek Place in downtown Indianapolis her home.

Molly can be reached at molly@hoosierhistorylive.info.

The broadcast is engineered and recorded by the student-engineers of the Department of Communications at University of Indianapolis, under the supervision of Scott Uecker, general manager of WICR.

Webmaster

Richard Sullivan edits the Hoosier History Live! website and email newsletter. He is currently working on the launch of show audio distribution and syndication via the Internet: podcasts and more. Richard was a reporter alongside Nelson Price in the 1980s and '90s at The Indianapolis News. Now he runs Monomedia, an Indianapolis-based software design firm that creates websites.

Monomedia also does PC consulting. In fact, that's how Richard got hooked up with the show: He has been Nelson's IT department since Nelson stepped away from the newspaper business. Richard has taken on "tech" for the show and says to contact him with any comments or questions. Also, if you have more than 100 people on a regular email list, he suggests you consider the email system the show now uses.

A longtime downtown Indianapolis resident, Richard is former president of the Chatham Arch Neighborhood Association and currently serves on the board of the Chatham Arch Neighborhood Foundation. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in English and journalism from Marshall University in his hometown of Huntington, W.Va.