The AskHistorians Podcast

Today on AskHistorians Aloud -- /u/mimicofmodes answers the question "when did it become acceptable for women to smoke too?   Link to answer here.

This week on the AskHistorians Podcast we managed to sit down with three of the wonderful women of @dig_history to talk history podcasting, #twitterstorians, Jill Lepore, What to Expect When You're A History-Loving Highschooler, what #history can learn from #librarylife and so much more! Find Dig - A History Podcast here: https://digpodcast.org/ Historians joining us today: *Averill Earls, PhD* Averill is an historian of modern Ireland and sexuality, and writes about same-sex desiring men, policing, and Dublin’s queer urban spaces. She is an Assistant Professor of History at Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA, where she teaches everything except American History. In addition to making podcast episodes with the amazing women of Dig, she is the Assistant Layout Editor at Nursing Clio. She’s published a range of pieces on teaching, literature, and the history of gender and sexuality with collaborative history blogs like Notches and Nursing Clio. When she’s not teaching, podcasting, or moonlighting as a member of the Cabot Creamery Co-operative social media team, she enjoys board games, baking, and puppy snuggles. Averill tweets from @aearls. *Sarah Handley-Cousins, PhD* Sarah is an historian of disability and gender in the American Civil War. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of History at the University at Buffalo. Her forthcoming book, to be published with the University of Georgia Press, is about disabled Union veterans during and after the Civil War. In addition to a PhD in History from the University at Buffalo, Sarah holds a BA from Wells College and an MSEd from Niagara University, and is an alum of the New York State Council for the Humanities Public Humanities Fellows. You can find her writing on Nursing Clio, where she is also an Editor, and various digital news outlets, including The Washington Post and The New York Times. She enjoys unresolved romantic tension (in books and movies), visiting the Gettysburg National Military Park, and heated blankets. Sarah tweets from @sarahbelle721. *Marissa C. Rhodes* Marissa is an independent information professional and PhD candidate in History at UB. Her dissertation tells the stories of lactating women for hire in the Atlantic world during the Revolutionary era. In addition to a BA in History from Niagara University, Marissa has an MLS from UB. She is a former fellow at APS, The Library Company/HSP & the Lapidus-Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. But most importantly, she’s super into running, red wine, British television, and murder (as much as someone can be into murder without actually doing them). Marissa tweets from @iLURVhistory. (and in spirit) *Elizabeth Garner Masarik* Elizabeth is an historian of the welfare state and women in Progressive Era America. She is currently completing her PhD in History at the University at Buffalo, working on her dissertation and teaching American History. Elizabeth holds a BA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MA from UB. She is a 2017-18 Fellow in the University at Buffalo Institute for the Research on Women and Gender and 2018-2019 Humanities Institute fellow. She was recently featured by the Texas Tribune as an authority on Mexican-American relations in the borderlands of Texas. She had a forthcoming article, “Por la Raza, Para la Raza: Jovita Idar and Progressive-era Mexicana Maternalism in the Texas-Mexican Border,” in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly . Somehow she also has time to be a savvy blogger, and a totally badass powerlifter. Elizabeth tweets from @EGMasarik.   © 2019 Brian M. Watson

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.