History in Focus

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Go behind the scenes with the world’s leading history journal as we explore the who, what, how, and why of doing history in the twenty-first century.

American Historical Review


    • May 7, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 39m AVG DURATION
    • 40 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from History in Focus

    S3 E9 Big Asia

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 23:26


    A Martian lands on Earth, heads to the nearest university's History Department, and asks the question, “What is Asia?” What kind of response would they get? We explore this question with historian Nile Green, who outlines a forum titled “Big Asia: Rethinking a Region” that appears in the June 2025 issue of the AHR.

    S3 E8 Teaching the Vietnam War, Fifty Years On

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2025 45:55


    Fifty years after the fall of Saigon in April 1975, we investigate the challenges and opportunities of teaching the Vietnam War and the ways that understanding the war has changed. We speak with four contributors to an AHR forum entitled “The Vietnam War Fifty Years On,” published in the March 2025 issue—Thy Phu, David Biggs, Wen-Qing Ngoei, and Jana Lipman. And we pay a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

    S3 E7 Archiving Loss, Learning, and Time in the Field

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2025 29:13


    Historian Lily Pearl Balloffet explores the real, live human relationships we form in the process of doing historical work and how, for her, those vital connections were decisively disrupted in the years of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

    S3 E6 AHA 2025 and History Teachers

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 5, 2025 21:06


    In this episode, we revisit AHA 2025 with a focus on history teachers. Daniel sits with Katharina Matro and Megan Porter—both high school history teachers—to talk about AHA sessions geared toward history teaching as well as the AHA 2025 K–16 Content Cohort, which this year focused on the theme of “Resilience in the History Classroom.”

    S3 E5 Jo Guldi on Text Mining, AI, and Digital History

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2025 83:30


    Historian and quantitative methods expert Jo Guldi discusses text mining, AI, and the wider landscape of digital history in this longform conversation. Guldi's work on these subjects can be found in two recent AHR articles—“The Algorithm: Mapping Long-Term Trends and Short-Term Change at Multiple Scales of Time” published in the June 2022 issue and “The Revolution in Text Mining for Historical Analysis is Here” from the June 2024 issue—and in the book The Dangerous Art of Text Mining: A Methodology for Digital History published in 2023 by Cambridge University Press.

    S3 BONUS ‘Historians On': AI in Teaching and Research

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2024 51:21


    At the 2024 AHA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, historian David Trowbridge sat down with a handful of attendees to discuss topics of particular interest to historians in the present moment. In this episode of our new "Historians On" series, David speaks with Katharina Matro, Jeff McClurken, Kalani Craig, Jo Guldi, Johann Neem, Kevin Gannon, and Lauren Tilton on the topic of AI and its implications for history teaching and research.

    S3 E4 Histories of Resilience

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2024 42:51


    In December 2024 American Historical Review published its first ever special issue. Titled “Histories of Resilience,” it features almost two dozen scholars from a wide range of fields contributing their research on resilience. In this episode we hear from board of editors members Josh Reid and Cymone Fourshey as they discuss how the issue came together interspersed with cameos from a few of the contributors—Kate Whiteley on the Wiyot Tribe of Northern California, Thaís R. S. de Sant'Ana on migrant workers in Brazil, Tammy Wilks on Kenyan Nubians, and Bob Reinhardt on US communities submerged as part of big dam projects.

    S3 E3 BONUS ‘AfriWetu' Host Mona Nyambura Muchemi

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2024 37:52


    A conversation with AfriWetu host and creator Mona Nyambura Muchemi. We talk about the origins of AfriWetu, about her journey as a storyteller and student of African history, and about the state of popular understandings of African history across the continent.

    S3 E3 ‘AfriWetu': Dihya Al Kahina

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2024 51:43


    In this second installment from our collaboration with African history podcast AfriWetu, Mona, with the help of guest narrator Nyaguthii, explores the North African legend of Dihya Al Kahina.

    S3 E2 Introducing ‘AfriWetu': Buganda Kingdom

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2024 51:22


    Introducing the latest entry in our podcast collaboration series: a terrific and thoughtful African history podcast called AfriWetu. In this episode, host and producer Mona Nyambura Muchemi explores the history of the East African Kingdom of Buganda with special emphasis on the women of Buganda's society.

    S3 E1 A New Welfare History

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2024 31:08


    What story can be told of the American welfare state when you broaden the view beyond established government programs and official actors? We kick off season 3 with a conversation with historians Salonee Bhaman, Bobby Cervantes, and Salem Elzway on their AHR article “A New Welfare History.”

    Season 2 Epilogue

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2024 21:44


    Producers Daniel, Matt, and Conor reflect on season 2 and talk history podcasting generally. Plus a preview from Daniel on what's coming in season 3.

    S2 E10 Environmental Crisis and Recovery

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2024 38:16


    Elizabeth Chatterjee examines the dynamics of the climate/food/energy crisis that shook India in the 1970s. And Andrew Highsmith discusses his feature review of three recent books on environmental crisis and recovery in the cities of Flint and Detroit.

    S2 E9 Collaborative History + Revisiting Marion Thompson Wright

    Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2024 45:41


    Arlene Díaz and Kalani Craig discuss their piece exploring the Spanish American War, the use of digital methods, and the place of collaboration in historical research. Then, with Hettie Williams, we revisit the life and work of historian Marion Thompson Wright.

    S2 E8 Teaching Historiography + Chilling Affects

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2024 30:48


    Producer Matt Hermane speaks with Agnieszka Aya Marczyk, Abby Reisman, and Brenda Santos about their #AHRSyllabus piece “Teaching Historiography: Testimony and the Study of the Holocaust.” Then Conor Howard hears from Woody Holton on his article “Chilling Affects: Newly Troubled about Triggering, the Far Right Takes Aim at Black History.”

    S2 E7 Indigenous Art and History + Conversations with the Dead

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2024 44:36


    Producer Matt Hermane speaks with historian Brenda Child about the March 2024 History Lab feature on Contemporary Indigenous Art and History, part of AHR's ongoing series on “Art and Historical Method.” Then we revisit now past AHA president Edward Muir's presidential address—titled “Conversations with the Dead”—at this year's AHA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

    S2 E6 Picnicking at the End of Empire + Around AHA 2024

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2024 39:42


    Sarah Abrevaya Stein presents her History Unclassified piece "Eating on the Ground: Picnicking at the End of Empire" on the picnicking practices of Sephardic Jewish communities in the late Ottoman Empire. Then History in Focus producers take you around the bustling corridors of this year's American Historical Association annual meeting in San Francisco.

    2.5 Enslaved Women's Bodies in Fifteenth-Century Spain + Seeing Black America in Iran

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2024 33:47


    Debra Blumenthal examines slave markets in 15th century Spain and their influence on conceptions of women's health. And Beeta Baghoolizadeh discusses the legacy of racialized forms of enslavement in 19th and 20th century Iran.

    S2 E4 History and Video Games + Digital Submission Guidelines

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2023 36:10


    Historian Tore Olsson discusses designing a history course around the popular video game Red Dead Redemption 2. And Kalani Craig introduces the AHR's new guidelines for Digital Media Submissions.

    S2 E3 Monuments and Public History

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2023 42:15


    Durba Ghosh introduces the AHR forum “Mismonumentalizing and Decolonizing: Public History as History for the Public.” We also hear from one of the forum's contributors—Thomas Adams and Sue Mobley—on their work on recent efforts to rename streets in New Orleans.

    S2 E2 AI and History + Arms and American Revolutions

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2023 36:03


    Historians Darrell Meadows and Joshua Sternfeld discuss the AHR Forum they assembled on AI and the practice of history. And Brian DeLay delves into his article on the role of the international arms trade for revolutions in the Americas.

    S2 E1 Teaching History

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2023 41:53


    We discuss the current state of teaching history, from K12 through the college level, and the AHR's first major entry into the teaching discussion with the new #AHRSyllabus Project. Organizers Kathleen Hilliard, Laura McEnaney, and Katharina Matro join two of the first syllabus contributors, Saniya Lee Ghanoui (for the podcast Sexing History) and William Tullett (for the historical smells researchers of Odeuropa), to preview this new teaching resource and what we hope it will add for history teachers interested in engaging with the journal.

    k12 ahr teaching history odeuropa sexing history laura mcenaney
    15. A Sacred Calling

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2023 67:45


    For nearly half a century, Curtis Boyd and Glenna Halvorson-Boyd have devoted their lives to providing safe and affirming abortion care. Curtis, a former Baptist minister, began providing abortions in Texas before the procedure was legal in the state. After Roe v. Wade, with the help of an interfaith network of clergy, Curtis opened up a clinic in Dallas. In the 1970s, Glenna came to work there as well, and the two eventually fell in love. Their partnership and shared commitment to abortion care has enabled them to withstand the increasing violence of the anti-abortion movement and to continue providing abortions to this day. This episode was produced by the podcast Sexing History. It is the inaugural entry in AHR's new podcast collaboration initiative.

    [Revisited] The Redesign of the AHR

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2023 18:27


    AHR editor Mark Bradley talks with Pure+Applied designers Paul Carlos and Urshula Barbour about the AHR's first major redesign in over fifty years. This work was recognized with a design award from the Association of University Presses in April 2023.

    14. Agency and History + Hong Kong and China Between the Tides

    Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2023 35:22


    Anna Krylova examines the complicated role of agency in history. And Denise Ho discusses the multilayered interactions along the Hong Kong–China maritime border in the mid-twentieth century through the lens of oyster producing communities.

    BONUS: Broadening the Definition of Historical Scholarship

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2023 47:35


    On January 5, 2023, the American Historical Association Council approved Guidelines for Broadening the Definition of Historical Scholarship. In this special episode, we explore the guidelines with AHA executive director Jim Grossman and guidelines committee chair Rita Chin.

    13. Follow Your Nose, Part 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2023 30:04


    More than a year since our first check in, we revisit Odeuropa, an interdisciplinary team of researchers investigating—and recreating—the smells of Europe's past. Project lead Inger Leemans updates us on the project as a whole while smellscape researcher Kate McLean takes us back through the smell walk she led for the 2023 AHA national meeting in Philadelphia.

    12. Transnational History

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2023 39:51


    What does it mean to do transnational history? What has this field of research accomplished over the last few decades, and what remains to be done? Paul Chamberlin discusses the transnational history forum he convened for the AHR. And we hear from three of the forum's contributors—Rebecca Herman, Maria John, and Hussein Fancy.

    11. Becoming Elizabeth + AHA 2023

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2023 37:19


    Historian Megan Robb discusses her article “Becoming Elizabeth: The Transformation of a Bihari Mughal into an English Lady, 1758-1822” with producer Matt Hermane. Plus, Daniel checks in with AHA meetings manager Debbie Ann Doyle on the recent AHA annual meeting in Philadelphia and looks ahead to the next one in San Francisco.

    10. The Commodification of Tibet + A Look Ahead

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 4, 2023 35:49


    Historian Lydia Walker discusses international advocacy for Tibet on the part of the US and India in the early Cold War and how those efforts resulted in a sort of humanitarian commodification of the Tibetan cause. And AHR editor Mark Bradley looks ahead with Daniel at what's coming up at the 2023 AHA Annual Meeting and in upcoming issues of the AHR.

    9. Black Reconstruction

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2022 45:41


    Historian Elizabeth Hinton explores W.E.B. Du Bois's 1935 magnum opus Black Reconstruction. We also hear from Eric Foner, Chad Williams, Sue Mobley, and Kendra Field. The AHR chose not to review Black Reconstruction when it was first published. A review by Hinton appears in the December 2022 issue.

    8. Art and History + Memoir of a Hijacking

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2022 40:44


    Art critic Lee Weng-Choy discusses his and curator Zoe Butt's conversation on historical practice in contemporary art. And Kate Brown speaks with Martha Hodes about her article exploring the process of writing about her childhood experience as a passenger in an airplane hijacking in September 1970.

    7. Rethinking the Liberal Protestants + A History Survey

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2022 40:22


    Andrew Preston offers a reassessment of America's Liberal Protestants, especially on the subject of race. And Pete Burkholder and Dana Schaffer discuss the national survey “History, the Past, and Public Culture.” In both parts, the question What is history? hovers just below, or above, the surface.

    america history rethinking survey public culture andrew preston liberal protestants
    6. Soil and Memory

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2022 32:46


    Historian Alexis Dudden and graphic artist Kim Inthavong discuss their collaborative work on history, memory, and activism in Okinawa, Japan. Their piece, “Okinawa: Territory as Monument,” appears in the History Lab section of the September issue of the AHR. Inthavong's graphic panels illustrating Okinawans' present-day struggle over U.S. military presence in the islands can be previewed at americanhistoricalreview.org.

    5. Gender and Atlantic Slavery at Global Scale + The Redesign of the AHR

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2022 38:53


    AHR editor Mark Bradley talks with historian Diana Paton about her article “Gender History, Global History, and Atlantic Slavery: On Racial Capitalism and Social Reproduction.” Then, a conversation with Pure+Applied designers Paul Carlos and Urshula Barbour about the AHR's first major redesign in over fifty years.

    4. The Blackivists

    Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2022 34:28


    The Blackivists, a collective of professionally trained Black archivists in Chicago, partner with institutions and community groups to help preserve the city's Black cultural heritage as well as model reparative approaches to archives and archiving. Daniel talks with Ashley Farmer, who teamed up with the Blackivists to produce the AHR History Lab piece “Toward an Archival Reckoning” for the June 2022 issue. One of the collective—Stacie Williams—joins Ashley to talk about the group's work. And Adom Getachew checks in to set this project in the context of a larger arc of upcoming Lab entries on the theme of “engaged history.”

    black chicago lab ashley farmer stacie williams
    3. From the Reviews Desk, March 2022 Edition

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2022 37:06


    Daniel talks with AHR Associate Editor Fei-Hsien Wang about the Reviews section of the March 2022 issue, including a cluster of five history podcast reviews and a new column called Authors in Conversation. Shawn McHale and Christopher Goscha kicked off that column with reviews of each other's recent books on the Indochina War, and they talk here about their work and their experience of trying out this approach to reviewing.

    conversations desk christopher goscha
    BONUS: Historians and Their Publics

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 16, 2022 37:25


    In this special episode, we look at Jacqueline Jones's AHA Presidential Address, “Historians and Their Publics, Then and Now,” delivered on January 7th, 2022, at the AHA annual meeting in New Orleans. You'll hear an abridged version of the address paired with a conversation between Jacqueline and Mark Bradley about the address. Jacqueline Jones served as president of the American Historical Association in 2021.

    2. Unlikely Entry Points and Unexpected Dead Ends

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2022 37:08


    This episode explores unlikely ways into research and what can happen when we confront what seems like a deadend. Daniel talks with Judd Kinzley about his article “Wartime Dollars and the Crowning of China's Hog-Bristle King: The Dubious Legacies of US Aid, 1938–49.” And History Unclassified editor Kate Brown speaks with Jennifer Lambe about her article “Christine Jorgensen in Cuba: On Dormant Leads and Archival Dead Ends.”

    1. Follow Your Nose

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2022 33:11


    Daniel talks with AHR editor Mark Bradley about the changes coming to the journal in March, in particular a new section called the AHR History Lab that will showcase collaborative projects that challenge us to rethink how history is done in the twenty-first century. Then a conversation with contributors to the Odeuropa project, an EU grant funded research endeavor that seeks to excavate, and bring back to life, the smells of Europe's past.

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