Historically Thinking

In this engaging discussion, Paula Marantz Cohen, Dean Emerita at Drexel University and author of Talking Cure, explores the transformative power of conversation. She dives into the dynamics of familial chats versus casual banter, emphasizing genuine curiosity. Cohen examines gossip's detrimental impact on dialogue and highlights the joy of meaningful exchanges, especially during communal dining. Through anecdotes from sports commentary to Shakespeare discussion groups, she underscores the importance of listening and how conversations can civilize our interactions.

Anton Howes, official historian at the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, discusses the complexities of historical narratives and innovation. He delves into the contributions of Henry Court to the Industrial Revolution, challenging misconceptions about metallurgical processes. The conversation also tackles the myths around food canning and the economic roots of colonial resources, emphasizing the importance of rigorous historical scrutiny. Additionally, Howes highlights flaws in the peer review system and advocates for transparency in historical research.

During the age of the European Renaissance, a new people was discovered. Not the Aztecs, or the Maya, or the Inca, but a mysterious people with an intriguing language who had once dominated Europe itself. These were the Celts. And their discoverers were not conquistadores or maritime adventurers, but dusty scholars, learning their eighth or fourteenth language, rummaging through dusty manuscripts. Yet somehow, as my guest Ian Stewart describes in his new book The Celts: A Modern History, these dusty scholars birthed a craze for Celticness which has lasted into our own day. It also became linked to some of the most powerful forces in the modern world, nationalism and racialism. How this happened is the argument of Ian Stewart’s book and the topic of our conversation today. Ian Stewart is a Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. The Celts is his first book.

In April 1769 a small British vessel sailing along the southern coast of Hispaniola discovered a shipwreck near the current border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. An investigation found no survivors aboard. But they also found a log which identified that ship as the Black Prince. And there the mystery might have ended. But over the next eight years, “ship’s crew members surfaced in unexpected places and recounted its demise.” That demise is part of the story in James H. Sweet’s Mutiny on the Black Prince: Slavery, Piracy, and the Limits of Liberty in the Revolutionary Atlantic World. But so too is how the Black Prince came to be wrecked on the Hispaniolan reef; how its crew escaped; and how the owners of the ship, and the interest they represented, took their own revenge. Above all it is a story of how Atlantic slavery was linked not only to commerce, but nearly every other corner of the 18th century world. James H. Sweet is the Vilas-Jartz Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a past president of the American Historical Association. He has previously been the prize-winning author of Recreating Africa: Culture, Kinship, and Religion in the African-Portuguese World, 1441-1770 and Domingos Álvares, African Healing, and the Intellectual History of the Atlantic World.

Colin Elliot, a Professor of History at Indiana University and host of the Pax Romana podcast, delves into the life and influence of the often-overlooked Roman historian Cassius Dio. They explore Dio's unique role as a participant-observer in the Roman Senate, his bilingual background, and how his perspective contrasts with other historians like Tacitus. The conversation highlights the challenges of interpreting Dio's work and his lasting impact on Byzantine scholarship, revealing key insights into the complexities of ancient narratives.

Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at Oxford and author of "Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasant’s War," delves into the dramatic German Peasants' War of 1525. She highlights the uprising's massive scale, involving over 100,000 peasants and catalyzing social upheaval. The discussion covers Luther's impact on peasant freedom, the significance of communal identity expressed through attire, and the bold demands articulated in the 12 Articles. Roper also contrasts the revolutionary visions of Thomas Munzer and Martin Luther, illuminating the era's theological tensions.

Yanni Kotsonis, a Professor of History at NYU, dives deep into the Greek Revolution, a defining event that reshaped nationalism in the 19th century. He discusses how layers of imperialism and social upheaval led to Greece's independence. The complexities of nationalism are unpacked, alongside the unexpected emergence of revolutionary fervor among Greeks. Kotsonis also highlights the pivotal role of trade in forging Greek identity and reflects on the financial struggles that have persisted from the revolution to modern times.

Josiah Osgood, a classics professor at Georgetown University and author of 'Lawless Republic,' dives into the world of Marcus Tullius Cicero, exploring his rise from a lawyer to a pivotal political figure. The discussion highlights Cicero's legal prowess and the dramatic cases that shaped his career, like the notorious Sextus Roscius trial. Osgood also sheds light on the Roman judicial system's public spectacle and the challenges Cicero faced during the Catiline conspiracy, revealing how such events influenced both law and society in ancient Rome.

He was and has been criticized as a “mere burrower into archives”; as a dry man without any ideas; as a painter of miniatures rather than of broad portraits; as a conservative by liberals, and insufficiently dogmatic by conservatives; as motivated by the Lutheran religion of his forebears, but also as a scholar set against teleology and mysticism. This was Leopold von Ranke, born in 1795, dying in Berlin in 1886. Over his long life, he not only influenced the historical world by his writings, but by his students, and their students. Through his teaching and his examples, he altered not only the historical profession in Germany, but in the United States as well through the horde of Americans who passed through faculties of history whose members had been trained by Ranke, or by one of his students. He did  not invent the footnote or the insistence upon using primary sources, but arguably more than anyone else established them as part of the apparatus of history as a social science. With me to talk about Leopold von Ranke is Suzanne Marchand, Boyd Professor of European Intellectual History at Louisiana State University. This September, she was elected to the Presidency of the American Historical Association for 2026. This is her fourth appearance on Historically Thinking; she was last with us as part of our continuing series on intellectual humility and historical thinking.

Catherine Fletcher, a Professor of History at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of "The Roads to Rome," dives into the captivating history of Roman roads. She uncovers how these seemingly mundane paths shaped societal views on travel and authority. Listeners are treated to her personal reflections on childhood memories interwoven with the roads, as well as the infrastructure's pivotal role in trade and pilgrimage. Fletcher also delves into the romantic perspectives of the 19th century and the legacy of Roman roads in modern ideologies, illustrating their enduring cultural significance.