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
Mar 18, 2021 • 56min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 171 - The Education Trap with Cristina Groeger
Tyler Alderson talks with with Cristina Groeger, whose new book The Education Trap: Schools and the Remaking of Inequality in Boston explores how education has been used to both alleviate and exacerbate inequality. Using 19th and 20th century Boston as a case study, she takes a critical look at how our concepts of education and the institutions that provide it have been shaped by those in and out of power, and gives us an idea of what we can do to work towards a more equitable society today.
Mar 4, 2021 • 1h 14min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 170 - Fugitive Freedom in Colonial Mexico with Bill Taylor
Tyler Alderson talks will Bill Taylor, author of the new book Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico. Taylor pieces together the lives of two men who impersonated priests, and discusses how they fit with the ideal of the vagabundo in popular culture of the time. How and why did they operate on the margins of society, and what does it say about that society?
Feb 18, 2021 • 1h 3min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 169 - Gaelic Work Songs with Meg Hyland
In this episode, Seb Lewin (u/aquatermain) discusses Meg Hyland's (u/Kelpie_Cat) research into work songs sung by itinerant herring gutters from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. Topics include the similarities between herring work songs and the Tango, the surprisingly not-safe-for-work lyrics and why one heritage boat captain refuses to led nuns aboard. In what is perhaps a first for an AskHistorians Podcast episode, we are also treated to a live rendition of one of these songs by Meg.
Feb 4, 2021 • 37min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 168 - Mandatory Palestine with Naama Cohen
In this episode, Naama Cohen joins us to discuss the British mandate in Palestine from 1922 to 1932, when memoirist and children’s author Douglas Duff served as a policeman there. How did British servicemen view Palestine, their role in it, and the local populations? Find out this and more.
Jan 22, 2021 • 1h 7min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 167 - Textbook Censorship in Texas with /u/Kugelfang52
In this episode, /u/Kugelfang52 joins us to discuss the topic of censorship in Texas history textbooks before and after the Second World War. How were decisions made about what or what not to include? How did the rhetorical tools used to counter fascism get turned on anything deemed 'Communist'? Find out this and more on this week's episode.
Jan 9, 2021 • 1h 8min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 166 - Vikings and Popular Culture
In this episode, four members of the AskHistorians panel discuss Vikings, their popular culture portrayals and how the legend of the looting, pillaging bearded norsemen is far from an accurate portrayal of these historical figures.
Dec 19, 2020 • 56min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 165 - The DuPont Gunpowder Mills with Richard Templeton
Tyler Alderson talks with Richard Templeton, author of Across the Creek: Black Powder Explosions on the Brandywine. Templeton tells the story of the workers who made the powder that turned DuPont into one of the world's largest chemical companies, and the deadly accidents that cut many of their lives short. 56m. Warning: This episode contains frank discussion of the aftermath of a gunpowder mill explosion and its physical effects on victims.
Dec 3, 2020 • 1h 33min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 164 - Women in Medieval and Early Modern Scottish History
Tyler Alderson is joined by four researchers who looks at the lives and experiences of women in medieval and early modern Scotland from a variety of angles. Guests are Marian Toledo Candelaria from the University of Waterloo, Lucy Hinnie from the University of Saskatchewan, Rebecca Mason from the Institute of Historical Research in London, and Chelsea Hartlen from the University of Guelph. 92 min.
Nov 19, 2020 • 58min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 163 - Gender, Inequality and Rhetoric in US Education History with Jenn Binis
In this episode, Jenn Binis (u/edhistory101) and Ryan Abt (u/Kugelfang52) discuss gender, inequality and rhetoric in US Education history. Topics include the unexpected consequences of integrating schools, gendered expectations of teachers, and the Committee of Ten.
Nov 5, 2020 • 1h 7min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 162 - Philip and Alexander by Adrian Goldsworthy
Tyler Alderson talks with author Adrian Goldsworthy, whose new book Philip and Alexander explores the lives of the two men who turned ancient Macedonia from a fringe Greek state into a powerful empire. While much of the focus has been on Alexander, Goldsworthy discusses the vital role that Philip played in setting his son up for the successes that earned him the name "Alexander the Great." 67m.
