The Modern Scholar Podcast

Hello and welcome back to The Modern Scholar Podcast—I’m glad you’re here and I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season. Welcome to SEASON THREE of the show! It’s hard to believe we are here already, and to kick things off I have a wonderful and inspiring episode to share with you today, featuring my new friend Steve Hughes! Steve Hughes is a sought-after speaker and consultant who helps people look and sound smart when they talk. He’s the author of Captivate: Presentations that Engage and Inspire, and he has been featured on NPR, BBC Radio, The Wall Street Journal, and Businessweek. Today he works with a select list of blue-chip clients including state and national associations, Fortune 500 companies, and leading universities. Steve holds a BA in French Literature and European History from the University of Kansas and an MBA in Marketing from Washington University’s Olin School of Business, where he was awarded the prestigious Olin Cup. Steve lives by the mantra that great speakers are made, not born—and having attended many academic and professional conferences over the past few years, and having delivered a number of different presentations myself in a variety of different settings, I can honestly say that I believe everyone—EVERYONE—can benefit from what Steve has to say.

Our guest today is Dr. Michael W. Hankins. Dr. Hankins is the Curator for US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps post-World War II Aviation at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum. He is also an Assistant Editor of From Balloons to Drones, a scholarly web journal for the study of air power, and host of the From Balloons to Drones Podcast. He is a former Assistant Professor of Strategy at the USAF Air Command and Staff College eSchool of Graduate PME, and a former instructor of military history at the USAF Academy. He earned a masters in history from the University of North Texas in 2013 and a PhD in history from Kansas State University in 2018. Dr. Hankins’ book, Flying Camelot: The F-15, the F-16, and the Weaponization of Fighter Pilot Nostalgia was recently released from Cornell University Press, and we’ll be talking about this great book on the podcast today.

Dr. Nicholas Mays is an Assistant Professor of History at Baldwin Wallace University. After growing up on the west side of Cleveland, Mays earned a bachelor’s degree from Baldwin Wallace and then a master’s and his PhD in history from Kent State University – which is where we crossed paths – we were both in a post-colonial seminar there taught by Dr. Shane Strate. Dr. Mays’ chief scholarly interests are 19th and 20th century America, and the African-American experience from the 17th century to present and Colonial Africa. His particular focus is on American slavery and the black experience, civil rights activism in the North, post-1965 black freedom struggles, hip-hop music and activism, and urban America.

Dr. Samuel J. Redman is an Associate Professor of History and Director of the Public History Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research focuses on studies American social, cultural, and intellectual history, and he received his B.A. in anthropology and history from the University of Minnesota at Morris and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American history since 1607 at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Redman is the author of three books. His first book, Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums was published by Harvard University Press in 2016, and was selected as a Choice Top-25 Outstanding Academic Title, Nature Top-20 book of 2016, and Smithsonian Top History Book of 2016. His second book, Prophets and Ghosts: The Story of Salvage Anthropology (Harvard University Press 2021) explores the history and legacy of salvage anthropology, and then his third book, The Museum: A Short History of Crisis and Resilience was published by NYU Press in 2022, and is the subject of our conversation today, examines how cultural institutions responded to episodes of crisis over the past century in the United States. Before graduate school, Redman worked at the Field Museum of Natural History, Science Museum of Minnesota, and History Colorado. While at Berkeley, Redman served as the Lead Interviewer for the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Homefront Oral History Project. He also helped to organize Berkeley’s Japanese American Confinement Sites Oral History Project and San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge Oral History Project. In collaboration with a New York City based non-profit organization, Voices in Contemporary Art, he has co-led Artist Interview Workshops for more than 300 conservators, curators, educators, and arts professionals.

Jasmine Zandi is a Canadian native who has called Arkansas home since 2011. She graduated from Hendrix College with a dual B.A. in French, and International Development and Sustainability. Throughout her undergraduate studies, Jasmine completed internships with No Kid Hungry, the Smithsonian Institute, and the Toledo Museum of Art. Post-graduation, Jasmine served a year-long service term as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. In 2021, Jasmine became the new Coordinator of the Be Mighty Little Rock program, a citywide anti-hunger campaign connecting kids and teens to free USDA meals. Be Mighty operates through the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). Since she began, the program has expanded beyond USDA meal distribution to include garden & nutrition education programs, and SNAP office hours during which patrons are given information on federal programs designed to alleviate food insecurity. Whether national or local, Jasmine has a passion for nonprofit work and empowering her community with the resources needed to thrive!

Dr. Laura Portwood-Stacer is a publishing consultant and developmental editor who helps academic authors at all career stages navigate the book publishing process. Her company Manuscript Works offers regular workshops and online programs to assist writers in drafting book proposals and connecting with scholarly publishers. She is the author of The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors, published by Princeton University Press in 2021, which is the subject of our conversation today!

Dr. Margaret Sankey earned a PhD at Auburn University in European military history, and taught military history, security studies and political science at Minnesota State Moorhead before joining the staff at the U.S. Air Force Air War College as the director of research and electives. Currently, she is Air University’s research coordinator in the Office of Sponsored Programs matching and supporting Air University assets with Air Force research problems. Her publications include Jacobite Prisoners of the 1715 Rebellion: Preventing and Punishing Insurrection in Early Hanoverian Britain, Women and War in the 21stCentury, and the North American Conference on British Studies Walter D. Love Prize-winning article, co-written with Dr. Daniel Szechi, “Elite Culture and the Decline of Scottish Jacobitism, 1715-1745,” in Past and Present. Dr. Sankey is also the author of Blood Money: How Criminals, Militias, Rebels, and Warlords Finance Violence, published by the U.S. Naval Institute Press, and this book is the subject of our conversation today.

Christopher DeCristofaro received his master’s degree in Library Science in 2001. He is currently the Head of Digital Services (which encompasses Information Technology and Studio makerspaces) at the Sachem Library in Suffolk County New York. He is also past President and current member at large on the Computer and Technical Services Division of the Suffolk County Library Association. Previously, he worked in the Adult Services Department at the Longwood Public Library from 2002-2015, and he also served as an Academic Librarian at Dowling College from 2007-2010. He teaches many classes that are based in technology along with one-on-one sessions with patrons. Chris has also spoken at various library and technology association conferences, meetings and seminars. Robert Johnson is currently the Information Technologist at The Emma S. Clark Library in Setauket, Suffolk County, New York. Robert is an active member of the Computer and Technical Services Division of the Suffolk County Library Association. He has spoken at numerous seminars and organizations across the Northeast region, including the New York Library Association. He was previously the Information Technologist at the Port Jefferson Free Library in Port Jefferson, New York. Together Chris and Bob are the creators and hosts of The Library Pros Podcast, a show about libraries, library technology, and everything in between! Earlier this year I participated as a guest on their show, and you can find that episode here!

Dr. Susan Colbourn is the Associate Director of the Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS), based at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. A diplomatic and international historian, she is interested in questions of strategy and security in the atomic age. She specializes in the history of the Cold War with a focus on NATO, the politics of European security, and the role of nuclear weapons in international politics and society. Prior to joining the Triangle Institute, she held fellowships at Yale University’s International Security Studies program and at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She received her Ph.D. in History from the University of Toronto. She is the author of Euromissiles: The Nuclear Weapons That Nearly Destroyed NATO, which is the subject of our conversation today.

Dr. Jonathan Rees is a Professor of History at Colorado State University – Pueblo, where he has received the University Award for Faculty Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activity and been recognized as an Outstanding Faculty Member in the College of Humanities and Social Science. He is the author of numerous books, including Representation and Rebellion: The Rockefeller Plan at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, 1914-1942, Refrigeration Nation: A History of Ice, Appliances, and Enterprise, Education Is Not An App, which he co-authored with Jonathan Poritz, and his latest book The Fulton Fish Market: A History, which is the subject of our conversation today. Dr. Rees also recently finished serving two terms on the National Council of the American Association of University Professors.