
Show overview
The AskHistorians Podcast has been publishing since 2013, and across the 13 years since has built a catalogue of 276 episodes. That works out to roughly 260 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 47 min and 1h 9m — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language History show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 2 weeks ago, with 3 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2018, with 36 episodes published. Published by AskHistorians Podcast.
From the publisher
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.
Latest Episodes
View all 276 episodesAskHistorians Podcast Episode 250: Emily Winderman and the rhetoric of back alley abortion
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 249: Egyptology Today with the History of Egypt Podcast
u/Steelcan909 and Dominic Perry, the host of the History of Egypt Podcast, discuss the history of Egyptology, stories from ancient Egypt, the situation of the field today, and why Hollywood can't seem to make any stories about Egypt that don't involve Cleopatra. 78min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 248: Truman and The Bomb with Alex Wellerstein
u/Steelcan909 and u/restricteddata, better known as Alex Wellerstein, discuss the relationship of President Harry Truman and the atomic bombs. Dr. Wellerstein charts Truman's first encounters with nuclear technology, through the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and finally up to the Korean War. Was Truman as anti-nuclear as is often portrayed? Was MacArthur as gung-ho for the bomb? Find out! 76min.
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 247: Masculinity in Norse literature and society
This time u/Steelcan909 is joined by u/Liljendal for a discussion on the literature of the Norse people, sagas, histories, and more. We look at these texts to see what they can tell us in the modern day about Norse culture and attitudes towards masculinity. 65min.
Ep 246AskHistorians Podcast Episode 246: The Nursing Clio Collective
This week, u/EdHistory101 talks with members of the Nursing Clio Collective and editors of the book, The Nursing Clio Reader: Histories of Sex, Reproduction, and Justice. (Use code RUP30 at checkout for 30%). The conversation covers the history of the Nursing Cliocollective, the dynamics of such a project as members moved in and out of academia, and how the book came together. They also talk about what makes for a great history essay and what connects with readers, the concept of "bias" and historical empathy, and how historians work. During the conversation, the work of historians such as Judith Leavitt], Susan Reverby, and Janet Golden were mentioned. They're open to pitches from anyone who has an opinion and expertise! (52 minutes)

AskHistorians Podcast Episode 245: Heiresses with Dr. Miranda Kaufmann
This week, Dr. Miranda Kaufmann chats with Mimicofmodes about British heiresses of Caribbean fortunes, and the enslaved people that underwent untold suffering to support their lifestyles. (47 min.) Find Dr. Kaufmann on BlueSky as @drmirandakaufmann or on her website. Heiresses: Marriage, Inheritance, and Slavery in the Caribbean Discussion post on AskHistorians
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 244: The Ancient Americas
Hello and welcome back! On this episode, Steelcan909 and the host of the Ancient Americas YouTube Channel discuss the challenges of doing history on poorly recorded times in history, the influence of modern media on perceptions of the time period, and the challenges of doing broad Pre-Columbian History. 57min.
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 243 Doing Hellenistic History, with the Hellenistic Age Podcast
Hello and welcome back! On this episode, Steelcan909 and the host of the Hellenistic Age Podcast discuss the challenges of doing history on poorly recorded times in history, the influence of Hollywood on perceptions of the time period, and what historical records we wish were still around. 67min. Please check out the Hellenistic Age Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 242: The history of Medieval London Part 2, with the Story of London podcast
Welcome to part 2 of the earlier discussion between Saul of the Story of Lonon podcast, and Steelcan909. In this episode we continue our earlier discussion of Medieval London from the Norman Conquest through to the War of the Roses! 1hr.
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 241: Medieval London with The Story of London Podcast
Steelcan909 and /u/thefeckamIdoing discuss the late Antique and early Medieval origins of the city of London. Starting with the city of Londominium in Roman Britian through to the eve of the Norman conquest, we discuss the growth of Ludunwic, state formation in Medieval England, Vikings, and more! 59min
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 240: Translating the Crusades with Dr. James Curry
Hello all! Welcome to another episode between Steelcan909 and Dr. James Curry who joins us once again to talk about his recent work on a translation of crusading narratives. In this episode we discuss the First Crusade, the various narrative accounts that are made afterwards, and the surprisingly long legs that many of these accounts developed. 51min.
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 240: Personhood with Mary Zeigler
This week, u/EdHistory101 talks with Mary Ziegler about her book, [Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300273045/personhood/). The conversation covers Ziegler's role as the first historian looking at the intersection of law and abortion, some of the history of personhood, what it's like to do an AMA from the other side of the keyboard and more! (38 minutes) Be sure to visit the subreddit thread if you have any questions for Dr. Ziegler.
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 239: Australia's New Guard with HaloFreak1171
Steelcan909 and Halofreak1171 pick up their previous discussion of Australian history. This time they focus on the sudden rise and equally rapid fall of Australia's interwar fascist movement, the New Guard. 54min.
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 238: The Rum Rebellion with HaloFreak1171
This time we have a flaired user, u/HaloFreak1171, talking about Australian History with u/Steelcan909. This is part one of a two part conversation, about the start of Australian colonization, the later career of one Willliam Bligh, and the outbreak of a military coup in Sydney! 48min. Be sure to check out their podcast, A History of Australia, here!
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 237: Judy Hart, founder of the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, NY
A slightly different episode this week! u/EdHistory101 talks with Judy Hart about her book, A National Park for Women's Rights: The Campaign That Made It Happen. Judy not only made history as the lead advocate for the park, she helped ensure women's history would be immortalized. The conversation covers the shift from thinking about National Parks as being about places to a way to memorialize stories, the role of women in the creation of the park and other national parks, and the role of "winsome smiles" for park rangers. You can see the maps that Judy praises here. 40 minutes.
Ep 236AskHistorians Podcast Episode 236: Matthew Ehrlich and The Krebiozen Hoax
EdHistory101 talks with Matthew Ehrlich about his book The Krebiozen Hoax: How a Mysterious Cancer Drug Shook Organized Medicine. 45 minutes. Episode discussion on Reddit.
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 235: The History of the Study of Slavery with Scott Spillman
EdHistory101 talks with historian Scott Spillman about his book on the history of the study of slavery as an academic discipline. 50 mins
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 234: /u/warneagle on Soviet Prisoners in WW2
Steelcan909 and warneagle discuss the unique nature of Soviet prisoners of war during the Second World War. The differences between Soviet and Western prisoners, soviet political commissars, and the intersection of the Soviet experience of the war with the Holocaust are discussed. 49min
Ep 233AskHistorians Podcast Episode 233: Jeannette Patrick and R2 Studios
Steelcan909 discusses the roll of podcasts, alt-acadmia, and the surprising complexity behind historical podcasting shows with Jeannete Patrick of R2 Studios. 43min.
AskHistorians Podcast Episode 232: Conversation with Dr. Justin Sledge on public history
Steelcan909 talks with Dr. Justin Sledge of the YouTube channel Esoterica about his experiences in public historical outreach, YouTube, and his own methodology. 56 min.