The AskHistorians Podcast

ColeVintage talks about how people used to get clean and stay fresh. The conversation begins with bathing, then moves into hair care, deodorants, and underwear, before segueing into how personal hygiene transformed into both a social status marker and public health concern. (53min)

Iphikrates discusses the largest hoplite battle in known history, after a substantive overview of hoplite tactics and equipment. Covered are the changing interpretations of ancient Greek warfare, the usefulness of the famous "push" and deep ranks, the role of cavalry and auxiliaries, and the evolving equipment used. Also discussed is the vaunted Spartan military prowess. (68min)

Chris Stewart of The History of China podcast discusses the Three Kingdoms period of China. Specifically, the conversation focuses on Wei, also known as Cao Wei, the polity would eventually bring about an end to the Three Kingdoms, though that unification would not last. We discuss the rise of Cao Cao and the decline of the Han, as well as the famous northern expeditions of Zhuge Liang. Also covered is the ascent of the Sima family, who would eventually supplant the Cao lineage and conquer the rival states of Shu and Wu. (78min)

Sowser discusses the end of slavery in the British Caribbean. We cover ideas held now (and then) about the death rates in the area, misconceptions about the role of the Irish, the 1807 abolition of the slave trade, and the political movements leading up official emancipation. Also covered are the failure of the apprenticeship system, payments made to slave owners, and the lasting legacy of slavery in the Caribbean. (73min)

Yawarpoma explores the 16th Century colony in what is now Venezuela, granted by Charles V to a German banking family, the Welsers. The colony, established in the same period as Spanish successes in Mexico and Peru, struggled to meet those successes by searching for a quick route to the Pacific and for the fabled city of gold, always just one more valley over. Yet, at the same time, the Germans led some of the first European expeditions into northern South America, though they would occasionally race against and even clash with Spanish rivals in an attempt to stake a claim to wealth and territory.

Commiespaceinvader explores the academic debate over the causes and the development of the Holocaust. We discuss the early steps taken by the Nazis to make Jewish life untenable within Germany, ghettoization, the Madagascar Plan, and finally, the transition to mass murder. These actions are viewed through the lens of the intentionalism and functionalism debate, which has at its core the question of not just of why the Holocaust came about, but also the question of assigning culpability for its development. (73min)

For those who missed the live stream (and for posterity), the presentation by AskHistorians at the 2016 American Historical Association meeting in Atlanta, GA is presented here in full. The title of the panel session was "AskHistorians": Outreach and Its Challenges in an Online Space and featured five presentations on how AskHistorians has created, grown, sustained, and moderated an online space for historical discussion. See also, an article in the AHA's magazine about the panel. You can read our papers here: https://askhistorians.com/conferences/aha2016.html

Ronald James, a historian and folklorist with 30 years of experience with the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, Inductee into the Nevada Writer's Hall of Fame, former chair of the National Historic Landmarks Committee, and author of more than a dozen books, including The Roar And The Silence: A History Of Virginia City And The Comstock Lode and Introduction to Folklore: Traditional Studies in Europe and Elsewhere, takes some time to speak to the AskHistorians Podcast. This episode looks at the development and practice of folklore as an academic discipline, while also exploring folkloric traditions from Cornwall, particular those spirits known as "Knockers." The importance of folktales and legends in everyday life are discussed, as well how those tales can change over time and in different situations, such as immigration from Cornwall to the American West. (59min)

Shlin28 sheds light on the relationship between the eastern and western regions of Europe/Mediterranean in the centuries following the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire. This episode particularly focuses on the political nature of the interactions, while also discussing Justinian's restoration of Imperial control, religious schisms of the era, and the expansion of Muslim power in the latter part of the 7th Century. (70min)

The podcast takes turn for the anthropological as Firedrops discusses Haitian Vodou, including some of her own fieldwork. This episode starts by asking what distinguishes it from "cousin" practices in the Caribbean and American South before moving into Vodou's role in Haitian society from the Colonial era to Independence and up through to today. We also look at the way American society has been exposed to Vodou, though the 1915 US Invasion of Haiti, sensationalist media, early scholarly works, and Haitian immigration. Zombies are discussed. (74min)