It’s All an Illusion

Nearly everyone has played dress up at some point in their lives, whether putting on mom or dad’s clothes as kids, for Halloween, as their favorite Marvel character at ComicCon… or even, maybe, as a Civil War soldier. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where historians say Civil War casualties were highest, attracts many reenactors. They carry their muskets, pull on their blue britches, and revel in the past. But today that hobby has taken on new meaning — survivalists on the left and right and even some pundits have suggested a second US Civil War isn’t quite so unlikely as it might seem. So, we thought we’d head out to learn a little bit more about why some folks like to play war… and what they think about the prospect of another. GUESTS: Pete Bedrossian, Civil War reenactor; Mike Peets, Civil War reenactor; Levi Rifenburgh, Civil War reenactor, high school student; Mary Babcock, Bannerman Island; Rebecca DuBois, Bannerman Island, archivist; Peggy Bedrossian, Former reenactor, Pete's wife; Kyle Windahl, Regalia maker, historian; Jocelyn Windahl, Occasional Reenactor, High school STEM teacher, Kyle's wife; Matt Atkinson, Civil War reenactor; Sherry/Cheri Stultz, Gettysburg Family Restaurant; Mark Russell, Civil War reenactor ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Civil War Re-Enactors Have Their Own POG-Level Slang , Blake Stilwell, We Are The Mighty How Gettysburg Became a Refuge for Conservatives Battered by Trump-Era Strife , Virginia Heffernan, Politico

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It’s All an Illusion is an episode from Things That Go Boom by PRX.

This episode is 27:52 long.

This episode was published on Mar 3, 2025.

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