Hobsbawm, historiography, and big-picture history

History is often forged upon the frontiers—both literally and figuratively. That includes the field of history, whose frontiers have become wildly expanded with the advent of podcasting and other forms of content creation. This has certainly created tension, but it has also created opportunities for narratives and voices that would never have otherwise been heard. One of those voices is that of the incredible Jack Henneman of The History of the Americans podcast, one of the best historical podcasts on the market.

Jack approaches American history with a granular fixation and that has placed him in a very different position than my own grand narrative style that I have been aping from Dan Carlin for nearly seven years now, and this has given him unique insight into the history of the United States, which is why I wanted to discuss the momentous but also underrated event known as King Philip’s War. This war’s significance to colonial American development cannot be overstated and helped characterize America’s ongoing relationship with the frontier, as well as set the tone for future calamities, including my area of the interest: the Salem witchcraft crisis.

Thanks to this significance, Jack and I were able to discuss the way such events are approached in history, as well as the state of the field itself; without spoiling too much, I will just say that both Jack and I believe that there is a bit too much concern over the frontiers of the field, which I believe has become something of a walled garden. That said, the importance of epistemic humility and transparency are paramount when forging these frontiers, and these and more are other topics we cover.

So please enjoy this conversation with Jack Henneman of the History of the Americans podcast.

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