The Gracie family, starting with its original Scottish immigrant Archibald, built a shipping empire in 18th and 19th century America--New York to Alabama--that profoundly shaped economic development. But their wealth was deeply entangled with the slave trade, its plantation economy, and later the Civil War itself. Their legacy, memorialized in landmarks like Gracie Mansion (now the NYC mayor's residence), reflects the uncomfortable truth of how American prosperity was built on exploitation. When Archibald Gracie IV stepped on to the decks of Titanic, he'd inherited a complicated legacy and was fighting tooth and nail to prove the worth of his ancestors' fallen pride.

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Happy 2026! Join me in a new season as I take a look at Titanic's historiography, changing legacy, and questions of its over-commodification. Feel free to reach out with feedback!

All of the books I recommend can be found here, where you can purchase and support the podcast + local independent bookstores: https://bookshop.org/shop/unsinkablepod

Support the show

Support Unsinkable on Patreon for as little as $1/month: https://www.patreon.com/unsinkablepod

Or buy me a coffee!: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/labeadles

Buy Unsinkable shirts here!: https://www.bonfire.com/unsinkable-the-first-t-shirt/

Support the pod via my Bookshop Storefront: https://bookshop.org/shop/unsinkablepod

Find me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unsinkablepod/

Join author Richard Stone and myself as we discuss his work Project Mayflower: Building and Sailing a 17th Century Replica--a detailed and important dive into the legacy of the Mayflower and how its replica (a joint venture between the US and the UK) has also resonated for several generations.

You can find the book here: https://bookshop.org/a/80949/9781493084364

The Titanic and the Mayflower stand as perhaps the two most iconic vessels in modern cultural memory, legacies enduring not through military conquest or commercial success, but through their profound symbolic resonance in the collective imagination. Both ships represent pivotal moments of transition and aspiration—the Mayflower carrying Pilgrims toward religious freedom and a new world in 1620, though as we discuss in the interview this isn’t 100 percent accurate, the Titanic embodying Edwardian confidence and technological hubris in 1912. Each voyage ended in a way that amplified its mythology: the Mayflower's grueling journey and harsh first winter became foundational to American identity and Thanksgiving tradition, even though that’s also more myth that reality, while the Titanic's catastrophic sinking on its maiden voyage became the ultimate cautionary tale about human overconfidence. What unites them most powerfully is how they've transcended their historical moments to become cultural touchstones—the Mayflower as shorthand for American origins and pioneer spirit, the Titanic as a universal metaphor for tragedy, class division, and the limits of progress.

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Support Unsinkable on Patreon for as little as $1/month: https://www.patreon.com/unsinkablepod

Or buy me a coffee!: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/labeadles

Buy Unsinkable shirts here!: https://www.bonfire.com/unsinkable-the-first-t-shirt/

Support the pod via my Bookshop Storefront: https://bookshop.org/shop/unsinkablepod

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