The AskHistorians Podcast

Today we're talking with fellow mod u/Georgy_K_Zhukov about dueling in the 19th century United States.

Today, a history of the condom from /u/AnnalsPornographie / @HistoryOf Porn. Link to answer. © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today we are joined by AskHistorians user /u/mimicofmodes, flaired in the History of Western Fashion. She is better known to her friends and family as Cassidy Percoco, an independent historian of fashion, textiles and material culture. She is the author of Regency Women's Dress: Techniques and Patterns 1800-1830, the host of A Most Beguiling Accomplishment podcast, and a collections manager at the St. Lawrence County Historical Association and talks to us today about some aspects of history in public life--what it is like to work in a museum and to teach history to the public You can also catch her on Episode 45 talking about Regency Era Fashion and on Episode 100 talking about AskHistorians under the hood, as in what it is like to moderate and run an academic history subreddit on the internet. © 2019 Brian M. Watson

In this episode of AskHistorians Aloud, sunagainstgold answers "Were women voters subject to vote suppression campaigns in the 1920s like those forced on African-Americans after Reconstruction?" Link to question and answer: here.

Today we talk with Dr. Timo Schaefer, author of Liberalism as Utopia The Rise and Fall of Legal Rule in Post-Colonial Mexico, 1820–1900 (Cambridge University Press, 2017), about how Liberal projects and ideals affected the legal system in 19th century Mexico. You can find him on Twitter as @TimoHSchaefer You can find his book here.

Today's episode is a little bit different! Instead of your regularly scheduled episode we are coming out with a preview of a new AskHistorians Podcast feature, AskHistorians Aloud! This feature is meant to bring some of the amazing work being done on the subreddit everyday to your ears here. © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today we talk with Dr. Roel Konijnendijk (@Roelkonijn on Twitter) about the myths surrounding the Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture. In particular, we compare scholarship on the battle with the mid-aughts film 300, Directed by Zack Snyder.

Today we talk with /u/UncoveredHistory, better known as Jason Aglietti. He is a public librarian in Baltimore and he just finished his Master's thesis from University of Maryland Baltimore County, where he wrote and defended his thesis The Friends They Loathed: The Persecution of Maryland Quakers During the Revolutionary War. Jason will tell us all about the lives of the Quakers in the American colonies from their founding to their persecution in the revolutionary war. This is NOT the history you usually hear about the revolutionary war, and Jason gives us a lot of new things to think about! Finding The Maryland 400, the history project Jason worked on and talks about can be found here. Jason's blog is here. Discussion thread. © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today we talk with Max (AKA u/Commustar on Reddit) about tribes, tribalism, and nationality in Africa. You can find the discussion thread here.

Today on the AskHistorians Podcast we are joined by Dr Adam Rodman of the BedsideRounds Podcast! Prepare for the ultimate crossover episode as we discuss the history of the body, of medicine, and of physicians. This is a great episode and please enjoy it, love it, rate and review it! You can find Adam @AdamRodmanMD and his podcast at http://bedside-rounds.org/. Discussion thread is here. © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today we're talking about the ways in which 17th and 18th century Russia gathered intelligence on the Far East with Professor Gregory Afinogenov, who is currently Assistant Professor of Russian Imperial History at the University of Georgetown. He's on Twitter as @athenogenes.

Today we are joined by /u/amandycat, who is flaired on AskHistorians as Early Modern English Death Culture, which has to be one of the more stark and interesting flairs we have on the subreddit. She is better known to her friends and family as Amanda Brunton, a PhD student at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. Today we discuss all sorts of interesting and morbid things, like deaths, funerals, and how people liked to talk shade about the dead. An hour on the culture and history surrounding death and death culture in Early Modern England and it's not even Halloween! © 2019 Brian M. Watson

In today's episode we talk with u/CommieSpaceInvader about Marxist historiography and contemporary academia. This episode isn't a systematic analysis of the Marxist school within History so much as it is a broader reflection on the evolution of Marxist historiography and the ways it is perceived in contemporary academia and beyond.

Today we are joined by a member from the AskHistorians Community, /u/Coinsinmyrocket, flaired as Mid-20th Century Military | Naval History . He is joining us today to talk about the Phoney War, which touches on Dunkirk but also surrounds several of the events around it. Also included: discussion about the recent *Dunkirk* movie! Discussion thread here © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today we chat with Dr. Keri Leigh Merritt about the topic of her new book, Masterless Men: Poor Whites and Slavery in the Antebellum South (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Dr. Merritt is on Twitter as @KeriLeighMerrit and her professional website is https://kerileighmerritt.com. You can join the discussion on the subreddit here.

Today we are lucky to be joined by /u/depanneur, who is flaired on AskHistorians as Pre-Norman Ireland & European Fascism until 1945. He is better known to his friends and family as Pat Reed, and he is a Masters Student at the National University of Ireland, Galway, in Medieval Studies. Today's episode is a superb micro history of a macro topic-Bigfoot. Where does he come from? Where does he go? The world has questions but our guest today has answers. Discussion thread is here. © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today we talk with Dr. Emily Dufton, author of Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America. We talk about the decades long struggle between proponents of legalizing marijuana and those who defend laws criminalizing its possession and use. (56 min) You can find our guest on Twitter as @emily_dufton.

Today we have on /u/link0007, better known as Lukas Wolf, who is flaired on AskHistorians for 18th Century Newtonian Philosophy. This is an interesting and in depth episode because it talks about a couple of fields that do not get a lost of interest--history of philosophy and history of science. In this episode Lukas describes how the early scientists dealt with the questions of where god was in the research they were doing, and how creationism plays into early scientific arguments. We also cover Robert Boyle, David Hume, the Royal Society (the first scientific organization) and many more interesting people. © 2019 Brian M. Watson

In today's episode we hear from u/Sowser about resistance and rebellion in the British Caribbean. Using Jamaica as a case study, we talk about the different uprisings which shaped Jamaican history, both before and after the abolition of slavery. (81 minutes) Feel free to join the discussion of this episode on the mainsub here!

Today we have an episode and discussion on the history of libertinism in the 18th century between me, your host, Brian Watson (@historyofporn), and Thomas Froh (@T_Froh), who is officially now Dr. Thomas Froh! Thomas' dissertation is on libertinism, specifically in 18th century anglo-french literature--a very dry phrase for sexy books and erotica in the 1700s! He is here today to talk with me and us about transgression and erotica in the long 18thC! We have a great discussion on various libertine authors, ideas, and sexy books of the 18th century and even include a bit on BDSM. Discussion Thread! © 2019 Brian M. Watson

In this episode we hear from Professor David Fouser (u/agentdcf on the subreddit and @journeymanhisto on Twitter) about what it is like to be an adjunct professor in today's academic job market. (62 minutes) Discussion thread

Today we are welcoming OwlOfDerision AKA Danielle Thom to the AskHistorians podcast. This conversation today will be about 18th century visual culture and the life of various artists and the the invention and popularization of the satirical print and caricature. We also discuss what it is like to work inside a museum and how to get a job inside a museum! You can see some of Danielle's Work at the Museum of London, and she tweets from @Danielle_J_Thom. Discussion thread © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today as it is our 100th episode (and we are fast approaching 700,000 subscribers) we have decided to do something a little different! We have a panel of AskHistorians Moderators to talk about AskHistorians Under the Hood--what it is like to moderate and run the worlds largest academic history forum. AskHistorians has grown a lot in its six, nearly 7 years of existence, spawning several articles, helping several careers, several academic panels (which you can hear on earlier episodes) and this podcast! So if you have no interest in AskHistorians as a reddit community, this podcast might be of less interest to you. But regardless we have a great lineup today. The format today will be brief discussions of individual moderators about different aspects of AskHistorians followed by period of comment by the whole panel! Today we are joined by 1) /u/bernardito, better known as Stefan, flaired in Modern Guerrilla and Counterinsurgency, to talk about the development of the subreddit and his own development. You can also catch him on episodes 39 and 40 talking about Algeria and Counter-Insurgency. 2) /u/commiespaceinvader, also known as Joe, flaired in to Holocaust Nazi Germany and Wehrmacht War Crimes, to talk about holocaust denialism, the academic theories underpinning academia and AskHistorians, and the emotional labor of working on a very difficult topic. You can also catch him on episodes 91 and 57 talking about fascism and Intentionalism and Functionalism in the Holocaust 3) /u/snapshot52, known as Kyle, flaired in Native American Studies | Colonialism, to talk about theory in a non-western and subaltern points of view, and the difficulties and pleasures of this. You can also catch him on episodes 75 and 80 talking about Indian Policy and Indian Sovereignty and Cultural Genocide against American Indians 4) /u/chocolatepot, known to her friends and family as Cassidy Percoco, flaired in the History of Western Fashion, to discuss what it is like having interests that are contrarian to the reddit hivemind and culture, and what it is like to bring women's history to life. Catch her on episode 45 talking about Regency Era Fashion 5) /u/Iphikrates, known as Roel, flaired in Greek Warfare, to talk about being an expert in a field where the academic view is diametrically opposed to the public one, and how AH is a perfect opportunity to do something about it because the questions come from the public. Catch him also on episode 81 discussing Iphikrates and His Reforms Finally we will have 6) /u/Georgy_K_Zhukov, flaired in Post-Napoleonic Warfare & Small Arms | Dueling, to talk numbers and statistics and the state of the sub as a whole. Discussion thread © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today we are once again joined by Kyle Pittman - AKA u/Snapshot52 on the subreddit - for a discussion of the concept of sovereignty in the context of indigenous nations. (66 minutes)

Today, we are lucky to be joined again by /u/freedsmenspatrol! He is here to talk to us about about the entire history of the assault on Charles Sumner on the senate floor on May 22, 1856. He also give a detailed account of the events leading up to the caning, including episodes from the battle over the Fugitive Slave Act so a listener can understand how events lead up to the Civil War. It will give us an amazing background and history of a really important moment in american history. This is a really gripping and narrative podcast, and definitely shines as a great episode to listen to or to recommend to friends interested in the topic, which please do! Feel free to come by our discussion thread for this episode! © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today we're joined by Professor Lorien Foote (Texas A&M University) to talk about Union prisoners in the Civil War South. Specifically, the prisoner exchange system, the role of 19th century concepts of honor, and how these prisoners escaped as the Confederacy broke down towards the end of the war. You can check out the discussion thread in the subreddit here.

A special bonus episode: a microhistory of the military orders in Scotland!

This week we have a great interview with /u/Rhodis on the military orders, like the Knights Templars, Hospitallers and others! Today he will be gong us a thorough and factual history of these military orders, which often swirl with myth and legends and provide fodder for thousands of fantasy authors. Expect a special bonus episode next week on the military orders in Scotland. Come Join us In the Discussion Thread! © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Today Doug Priest (u/TenMinuteHistory on the subreddit) will explain the 1905 Revolution. This less well known precursor to the 1917 Revolutions, illustrates how the repeated failure to resolve Russia's most pressing economic, political, and social issues would set the stage for the overthrow of the Tzar over a decade later. (61 minutes) You can find the discussion thread in the mainsub here.

Today we are joined by Andrew Mangham, an Associate Professor of Victorian Literature and Culture at the University of Reading, UK. He writes about the intersections between literature and the history of medicine, with a particular interest in crime, death, and the darker sides of humanity. His most recent book is a study of Dickens and Forensic Medicine entitled Dickens's Forensic Realism. It a study of the ways Dickens's writing drew upon forensic techniques, and images of death and violence. This podcast covers some of his current research, future research, and how Victorian ideas of crime and criminality are still with us today. Discussion thread here! © 2019 Brian M. Watson

In light of the upcoming 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, Professor Peter Wilson talks with us about the Holy Roman Empire in the 16th century. You can find the discussion thread here.

Today we are joined again by /u/Commiespaceinvader here to tell us about the history of fascism, what it and how it works, and really giving us context for how a fascist system is born, works, and dies. (52m) Discussion thread here! © 2019 Brian M. Watson

We talk with Dr. Matthew Nicholls, Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Reading, and the creator of the Virtual Rome project. We discuss the difficulties of creating a 3-D, street-level map of Ancient Rome, as well as the upcoming massive open online course based upon it. (33min) Dr. Nicholls' previous AMA on AskHistorians. The next session of the online course of Rome: a Virtual Tour of the Ancient City will begin October 9th. You can learn more and sign up for free here. Join the discussion on AskHistorians!

On today's episode we have Professor Cindy Ermus, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Lethbridge, explaining the Plague of Marseille in terms of the (relatively) new field of Disaster History. (56 min) You can find the discussion thread on the subreddit here.

This podcast is a recording of the AskHistorians presentation at the National Council of Public History this past April. You can read the full-text of the speeches here: https://redd.it/682ta1 As usual, here is the discussion thread for the episode on the AskHistorians subreddit. You can read our papers here: https://askhistorians.com/conferences/ncph2017.html

In this concluding episode, we discuss the aftermath and fall-out from the Battle of Jutland, including the debate over the actions of the British commanders of the Grand Fleet. Also included is discussion over whether British ship designs at the time were flawed, leading to increased casualties. We conclude by putting the role of the battleship in naval warfare, particularly after WWI, in context. (37min)

In this first of two episodes we cover the lead-up and ultimately the clash between battleships at Jutland. We discuss the changing technologies and tactics of naval warfare at the time, before moving on to the battle itself. (51min)

Join us for a special bonus episode in conjunction with our Weekly Monday Methods threads where we discuss theory, history and the practice of historians. This is an extra little bit of our last episode where we spent some time debating postmodernism, where history is today, and where we go from here. (34m) Come join us in the discussion here! © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Doug Priest (/u/TenMinuteHistory) gives an absolutely fascinating and in-depth look at the 'meta' of history--that is, a conversation on historiography and historical thinking. This is an episode that will be really focused on the nuts and bolts of doing history and how historians think and the places they come from. You can consider it your own personal grad school theory crash course! This week's podcast will be followed by a special bonus episode on Monday in our weekly Monday Methods thread, so please check back and join us there! Visit our guest at www.tenminutehistory.com (77m) Join us for a discussion on AskHistorians! © 2019 Brian M. Watson

Antonio Curet, archaeologist and curator at the Museum of the American Indian, in Washington, DC, talks with us about the Taíno civilization of the Greater Antilles. (99min) Please leave us your thoughts and questions in the discussion thread in the subreddit, which can be found here.

Dan Howlett discusses the Salem Witch Trials and his approach to them using social network analysis. While the focus of the episode is on a digital humanities approach to historical research, the episode also covers the underlying social and political tensions, as well as the general atmosphere of paranoia, in the Salem area at the time. (36min)

In part two of a two-part series on the European Armoring Industry, WARitter joins us to discuss just exactly how the knights in shining armor got their shining armor. Wrapping up from a discussion of how exactly metal ore was transformed into armor, WARitter takes us onwards through a whirlwind tour of the history of the guilds, peoples and places that made up the armoring industry, and how armoring eventually declined and fell. (58m) Visit us at AskHistorians to discuss this podcast! © 2019 Brian M. Watson

In part one of a two-part series on the European Armoring Industry, WARitter joins us to discuss just exactly how the knights in shining armor got their shining armor. The first half of this two part series explores the techniques and the strategies from turning raw ore into beautiful armor, and how some of these techniques shifted over time. Next episode will bring an hour-plus long discussion on the entire arc of the armoring industry history—and the families, cities, and people that built it. (35m) For further discussion, come visit us at AskHistorians here. © 2019 Brian M. Watson

We explore the life and legacy of the Classical Greek general, Iphikrates with AskHistorians user Iphikrates. Famous for his use of light troops and for military reforms related to those troops, we trace the surviving evidence of Iphikrate's life and career to investigate the timing, scope, and even existence of those reforms. Along the way, the conversation touches upon the Athenian socio-political system of the time, the non-hoplite parts of Greek warfare, and a tantalizing connection between Iphikrates and Alexander the Great. (71min) Join the Conversation!

Snapshot52 joins us to discuss the concept of cultural genocide in the context of the US government's American Indian policy. In particular, we look at the creation and evolution of obligatory boarding schools for American Indian children. (75 min). Join the discussion!

Andres Pertierra joins us to discuss the interactions between Cuba and the United States starting in the Colonial Era and extending through the mid-20th Century with the Batista regime. Along the way we discuss Americans changing their names to fit in, the plantation economy, the problem of slavery, American shipping concerns, and the tensions between independence and annexation. (85min).

AnnalsPornographie discusses morality and immorality in late 16th and 17th Century England, as urbanization, population increase, and a growing middle class combined to form new approaches to controlling the morality of society. We discuss the debauchery of the court of Charles II, the moral backlash of the Glorious Revolution, and finally delve deep into the workings of the Society for the Reformation of Manners before reflecting on more modern debates over obscenity. (63min)

The conversation with CptBuck continues as we move south from Anatolia and the new state of Turkey into the regions of Mesopotamia, Syria, and the Levant. The politics and conflicts which led to the borders and formation of the modern states of Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine are all discussed, as well as a quick digression into Egypt. We end with a discussion on whether the borders of these nations predestined them for future conflicts. (60mins) Join the discussion!

CptBuck gives us the first of two episodes looking at WW1 in the Middle East, discussing the political intrigue and wrangling between the Ottomans, British, French, and Russians, among others. This episode focuses primarily on the Turkish area of the Ottoman Empire, and the various plans hatched both before and after Armistice to divvy up the Ottoman state. Along the way we talk about the Sykes-Picot, the Young Turks, the Greco-Turkish War, and Lawrence of Arabia. (59min) Join the Discussion!