Tides of History Listen to Patrick's New History Podcast, Past Lives
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Dec 3, 2025 Explore the untold stories of ordinary people in history, emphasizing their role as the backbone of human experience. Dive into the critique of 'great-man history' and its limitations, while discovering how individual perspectives reshape our understanding of events like the Civil War. Patrick also defines sociological storytelling, highlighting how fragmentary evidence can bring past lives to light. The first season focuses on twelve enslaved individuals, shedding light on their profound yet often overlooked histories.
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History Is Made By Ordinary People
- Patrick Wyman argues ordinary people, not famous figures, are the raw material of history.
- He emphasizes most ancestors were farmers, craftsmen, and laborers who left minimal traces but shaped events.
Great-Men Accounts Are Misleading
- Great-man history is misleading because famous people are outliers and not representative.
- Most people left no record, yet their cumulative actions created historical change.
Favor Perspective Over 'Bias'
- Replace the idea of 'bias' with 'perspective' to better interpret sources.
- Perspective shows writers choose what to include and how their assumptions shape narratives.