The AskHistorians Podcast
The AskHistorians Mod Team
The AskHistorians Podcast showcases the knowledge and enthusiasm of the AskHistorians community, a forum of nearly 1.4 million history academics, professionals, amateurs, and curious onlookers. The aim is to be a resource accessible to a wide range of listeners for historical topics which so often go overlooked. Together, we have a broad array of people capable of speaking in-depth on topics that get half a page on Wikipedia, a paragraph in a high-school textbook, and not even a minute on the History channel. The podcast aims to give a voice (literally!) to those areas of history, while not neglecting the more commonly covered topics. Part of the drive behind the podcast is to be a counterpoint to other forms of popular media on history which only seem to cover the same couple of topics in the same couple of ways over and over again.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 16, 2025 • 51min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 240: Translating the Crusades with Dr. James Curry
Hello all! Welcome to another episode between Steelcan909 and Dr. James Curry who joins us once again to talk about his recent work on a translation of crusading narratives. In this episode we discuss the First Crusade, the various narrative accounts that are made afterwards, and the surprisingly long legs that many of these accounts developed. 51min.
Jun 6, 2025 • 38min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 240: Personhood with Mary Zeigler
This week, u/EdHistory101 talks with Mary Ziegler about her book, [Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300273045/personhood/). The conversation covers Ziegler's role as the first historian looking at the intersection of law and abortion, some of the history of personhood, what it's like to do an AMA from the other side of the keyboard and more! (38 minutes) Be sure to visit the subreddit thread if you have any questions for Dr. Ziegler.
May 15, 2025 • 54min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 239: Australia's New Guard with HaloFreak1171
Steelcan909 and Halofreak1171 pick up their previous discussion of Australian history. This time they focus on the sudden rise and equally rapid fall of Australia's interwar fascist movement, the New Guard. 54min.
May 2, 2025 • 49min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 238: The Rum Rebellion with HaloFreak1171
This time we have a flaired user, u/HaloFreak1171, talking about Australian History with u/Steelcan909. This is part one of a two part conversation, about the start of Australian colonization, the later career of one Willliam Bligh, and the outbreak of a military coup in Sydney! 48min. Be sure to check out their podcast, A History of Australia, here!
Apr 10, 2025 • 40min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 237: Judy Hart, founder of the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, NY
A slightly different episode this week! u/EdHistory101 talks with Judy Hart about her book, A National Park for Women's Rights: The Campaign That Made It Happen. Judy not only made history as the lead advocate for the park, she helped ensure women's history would be immortalized. The conversation covers the shift from thinking about National Parks as being about places to a way to memorialize stories, the role of women in the creation of the park and other national parks, and the role of "winsome smiles" for park rangers. You can see the maps that Judy praises here. 40 minutes.
Apr 3, 2025 • 46min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 236: Matthew Ehrlich and The Krebiozen Hoax
EdHistory101 talks with Matthew Ehrlich about his book The Krebiozen Hoax: How a Mysterious Cancer Drug Shook Organized Medicine. 45 minutes. Episode discussion on Reddit.
Mar 13, 2025 • 51min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 235: The History of the Study of Slavery with Scott Spillman
EdHistory101 talks with historian Scott Spillman about his book on the history of the study of slavery as an academic discipline. 50 mins
Mar 6, 2025 • 50min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 234: /u/warneagle on Soviet Prisoners in WW2
Steelcan909 and warneagle discuss the unique nature of Soviet prisoners of war during the Second World War. The differences between Soviet and Western prisoners, soviet political commissars, and the intersection of the Soviet experience of the war with the Holocaust are discussed. 49min
Feb 13, 2025 • 44min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 233: Jeannette Patrick and R2 Studios
Steelcan909 discusses the roll of podcasts, alt-acadmia, and the surprising complexity behind historical podcasting shows with Jeannete Patrick of R2 Studios. 43min.
Nov 21, 2024 • 57min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 232: Conversation with Dr. Justin Sledge on public history
Dr. Justin Sledge, who runs the YouTube channel Esoterica and teaches philosophy, shares insights on the fusion of academia and public history. He discusses the challenges of making esoteric knowledge accessible through digital platforms. Sledge emphasizes the need for reliable sources amidst misinformation and the ethical responsibilities of content creators. He also explores the intricacies of working with ancient languages and the importance of sympathetic criticism in discussing sensitive historical topics.
