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
Jan 2, 2015 • 1h 38min
AskHistorians Podcast 027 - Language Policy in Modern East Asia
Keyilan takes on the topic of official language policy in China (both PRC and Taiwan), North and South Korea, and Japan. Dispelling some myths about languages in East Asia, he goes on to cover efforts at character simplification; efforts to promulgate "proper" language; modern linguistic differences stemming from political divisions; and why Taiwan spoke Japanese for a while, among much more.
One of our longer single episodes, China takes up most of the show, with Korea being covered around minute 56 and the section on Japan around 1 hour 20 minutes in.
Dec 19, 2014 • 1h 10min
AskHistorians Podcast 026 - South Korea: Politics and Protests
AsiaExpert provides an overview of the politics and social unrest of South Korea since the end of the Korean War. Starting from the meteoric rise of Syngman Rhee and continuing up to the establishment of the 6th Republic, this episode covers everything from the April Revolution, to Park dictatorship, to the chaebol system, to some reasons why South Koreans today may be less familiar with the smell of tear gas than their parents and grandparents.
Dec 5, 2014 • 1h 3min
AskHistorians Podcast 025 - Mongols: China and the Yuan Dynasty
Jasfss continues our examination of the Mongols, this time on the Eastern side of Asia. We start with the socio-political -- even artistic -- state of China on the eve of the Mongol advance before moving on to Kublai's establishment of the Yuan Dynasty and the final fall of the Song. We then move on to how the Mongols dealt with finding themselves as the ruling dynasty of China and their eventual downfall.
Nov 21, 2014 • 1h 18min
AskHistorians Podcast 024 - Mongols: Ilkhanate
Rakony discusses the Ilkhanate, the portion of the Mongol Empire in Persia and the surrounding areas. The reasons for the Mongol push into the area, why it did not go farther, and how the local peoples and the Mongols accomodated to each other, somewhat ironically leading to a resugence of Persian culture. Also, a surprising amoung of digging up graves.
Nov 7, 2014 • 1h 2min
AskHistorians Podcast 023 - Alchemy and the History of Science
Bemonk, host of the History of Alchemy Podcast (among others), speaks on how the practices and concepts of alchemy relate to the development of modern scientific methods and ideas. Covered in the talk are some basic pointers about what alchemy is, how long it has been around, differences between "Western" and "Eastern" alchemy, notable figures, and urine.
Oct 24, 2014 • 46min
AskHistorians Podcast 022 - Principality of Outer Baldonia
l_mack relates the strange tale of the Principality of Outer Baldonia, a micronation founded off the coast of Nova Scotia in the mid-20th Century by an American businessman seeking freedom from "question, nagging, shaving, interruption, women, taxes, politics, and monologues," as well as the right to stay up all night drinking, swearing and gambling. The tiny island nation ended up recieving international notice, with write-ups in a California paper and a denunciation in a Soviet journal.
Oct 10, 2014 • 1h 37min
AskHistorians Podcast 021 - Byzantines: Macedonian and Komnenian Dynasties, Part 2
Ambarenya wraps up the Komnenian dynasty, covering Alexios I finally securing the borders of the Empire, stabilizing the economy, and turning towards the West for help in the form of the First Crusade. The Crusader States, relations between the Byzantines and the Latins, and attempts to recapture lost territory are all covered as we move towards the bloody end of the Komnenian Dynasty.
Sep 26, 2014 • 1h 30min
AskHistorians Podcast 020 - Byzantines: Macedonian and Komnenian Dynasties
Ambarenya discusses with 400-Rabbits the two dynasties that formed the golden age of the medieval Byzantine Empire, albeit a golden age that was fraught with internal dissent and encroaching enemies on all sides. Part 1 covers the Macedonian dynasty, primarily examining their later period and decline, before seguing ino the turmoil that eventually gave rise to Alexios Komnenos as the first of the Komnenian dynasty.
Sep 12, 2014 • 1h 54min
AskHistorians Podcast 019 - Assyrian State Archives
Daeres speaks to 400-Rabbits about a collection of cuneiform documents known as the Assyrian State Archives. The interview delves into texts relating to everything from high level political arrangements to land purchases to hectoring bureaucratic memos to one poor official who was simply not very good at spelling. Insights into Assyrian life and historiography occur amidst this textual conversation.
Aug 29, 2014 • 1h 2min
AskHistorians Podcast 018 - A (Brief) Textual History of the Hebrew Bible
Husky54 speaks to 400-Rabbits about the Hebrew Bible. They cover what exactly the "Hebrew Bible" really is, when it was written, who was doing the writing, the historical precursors, corresponding epigraphy, textual intricacies, and, of course, Richard Dawkins.
