The AskHistorians Podcast

Join us today as Terminus-Trantor answers how maps were made in medieval times.

Dr. Edward J. Watts, a history professor at UC San Diego and author of *Mortal Republic*, delves into the decline of the Roman Republic. He examines the political turmoil and the rise of autocracy, highlighting key figures like Tiberius Gracchus and Augustus. Watts draws intriguing parallels between ancient Rome and modern U.S. governance, discussing the relevance of historical context in today's political landscape. He also explores the complex relationship between freedom and security, especially in light of Julius Caesar's assassination.

A special release podcast today: interviews that Brian Watson did with Brant Ellsworth of Children's Folklore Review and Willa C. Liburd Tavernier for Open Access week at Indiana University. This podcast episode is licensed under CC-BY. 

This week we are joined by Caitlin Smith-Oyekole, a Ph.D. candidate in American literature at the University of Notre Dame, where she focuses on doubt in American literature from the Great Awakening to the Civil War. Previous projects have focused on print culture and musical practice in colonial New England, the incipient crisis of authority in 16th -century radical Protestant rhetoric, and more. She is here today to talk to us about the history of the superhero narrative, from Golden Age Superheroes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe!   Discussion thread here.  © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today on AskHistorians aloud, hillsonghoods answers the question "How did people throughout ancient history explain static electricity?"   Link to question and answer: here.

In this week's podcast, we talk to AskHistorians flaired user u/rusoved, a historical linguist with a special focus on Slavic and Albanian linguistics. We discuss how historical linguists work backwards from modern language and dialects to work out how things used to be, as well as how the field itself developed and where it may be going on the future.

Today we have on askhistorians flaired user /u/nilhaus, better known as James McAllister to his friends and family. He has worked in a variety of fields including journalism, IT and government, but he returned to grad school and got his MA and his PHD (ABD) in American History and public history. He is working on his dissertation with an aim of beginning work in a museum afterwards.   He talks to us today about the nature of doing history, what it would have been like to be a soldier in the American Civil War, and the UNTOLD sexual history of the American Civil War. You wont get this story anywhere else!   Please take the podcast improvement and opinion poll here.    Discussion thread is here. © 2019 Brian M. Watson

New interview episode on Friday! For now, enjoy an AH Aloud episode! I often hear people say that the Irish Potato Famine was more a genocide than a true famine. How accurate is this claim?   Link to answer.

Today on AskHistorians Aloud, hillsonghoods answers the question : Is the concept of mental ilness a modern phenomenon?   Link to question and answer: here. 

In this episode of AskHistorians Aloud, we talk about conscription in the Ancient Greek world. Iphikrates answers "I'm a farmer in 500 BC in a typical Greek city-state. How often will I get called to mobilize for a battle?"   Link to answer: here.   Update: Someone has pointed out that a bit of the outro got recorded over the answer! Terribly sorry about that. Here is the missing text: How much of the time was wartime is an open question. But even during the Peloponnesian War, there were several uneventful years, in which Sparta did not call out the levy of the Peloponnesian League and Athens had only men from the Lists in various expeditionary forces. In such times you, as a regular farmer, might escape military duty altogether. And if your city-state wasn't a member of the League or a subject of the Athenian Empire, you might be fighting your own petty wars, but otherwise you'd be left mostly alone. It is anyone's guess how often you would actually be involved in a battle. Given all the factors I've mentioned, regardless of your city-state's foreign policy, I am of the opinion that the answer is probably closer to "once or twice in a lifetime" than "every year". However, given the lack of comprehensive source coverage, and the fact that historical accounts sometimes casually mention several battles in the course of a single campaign, my guess may well be wildly off the mark.