As one of the components of the Niagara Falls Poetry Project, a podcast was launched with the first three episodes in March, 2025. Titled Niagara Falls History & Poetry, each episode will focus on a particular aspect of Niagara Falls through the lens of the poetry that has been written about it. Episodes with augmented video features can be found on YouTube, audio only episodes can be found on the Castos aggregator, distributing them to the more popular podcast sites. Each episode will be listed and linked on this page, and each poem mentioned in a particular podcast will have links to it also.
Click to go to the YouTube channel
Click to go to the audio only channel
Episode 1 – Introduction — YouTube — Audio
In this episode I introduce myself, give a brief history of the Niagara Falls Poetry Project, and what to expect from this podcast. I illustrate my motto – “if something happened but I can’t find a poem about it, it didn’t happen” with a limerick I wrote to illustrate a really neat picture of a cow at the brink of Niagara Falls. So, because I wrote a limerick, it did, in fact, happen. I also touch on some of the themes I’ll be exploring in upcoming episodes of the podcast, and recite from the fragment of a poem that sparked the idea of the Niagara Falls Poetry Project.
Episode 2 – Bears — YouTube — Audio
Bears near Niagara Falls? Yes indeed – here different versions of “the bear in the canoe” legend, as well as some real, live documented cases of bears in Niagara.
Episode 3 – Captain Matthew Webb — YouTube — Audio
Captain Matthew Webb. the first person to swim the English Channel from Dover to Calais, lost his life at Niagara Falls whilst attempting to swim the Niagara River rapids and whirlpool. This tragedy is documented in poems by 3 of the worst poets writing in English and 3 poets laurate, and includes both a poem and a prose description of encounters with Captain Webb’s ghost.
Episode 4 – Death and the Photographer: Joseph Avery and Platt Babbitt — YouTube — Audio
Joseph Avery and his two friends were rowing across the Niagara River Rapids in 1853, when the boat capsized. The two friends were swept to their deaths immediately, but Joseph Avery managed to hold on to a protruding tree trunk until the following day. Despite rescuer’s efforts, they were not able to save him. Photographer Platt Babbitt captured an image of Avery that has become an iconic Niagara Falls photo. Their stories are told in both prose and poetry.