History Talk

As the struggle between members of the Standing Rock Reservation and their allies against the Dakota Access Pipeline coninues, History Talk takes a look at the long-term patterns of Native American relations with the U.S. government. Hosts Jessica Blissit and Brenna Miller and guests David Nichols, Christine Ballengee Morris, and Daniel Rivers discuss the specific environmental and sovereignty concerns surrounding construction of the DAPL, as well as how this issue fits into the larger history of Native American treaties, resistance, and protests. For more on the Standing Rock protests, see Origins' article, "Treaties and Sovereign Performances, from Westphalia to Standing Rock." - Posted February 2017

In this episode of History Talk, hosts Brenna Miller and Jessica Blissit speak with three experts on North Korea: Deborah Solomon, Mitchell Lerner, and Youngbae Hwang. Westerners tend to think of North Korea as an isolated "Hermit Kingdom" led by crazy dictators, but what is the view from inside Pyongyang? Join us as we discuss when and how North Korea got its nickname, debate its accuracy, and find out what's shaping North Korea's decisions.                  - Posted December 2016    

In this episode of History Talk, hosts Jessica Blissit and Brenna Miller interview three experts on American politics—Kimberly Hamlin, Marc Horger, and Paula Baker—in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. Together, they reflect on the nature of political campaigns, the role of race, class, and gender in American politics, and what has caused and what can be done about the growing cultural and political divide occurring across the country. Join us as we consider the ways that the campaign and Donald Trump’s victory both fit and defy historical trends in American politics, and where we go from here. - Posted November 2016

Since the 1970s, the "War on Drugs" has absorbed billions of dollars, fueled armed interventions overseas, imprisoned millions of individuals, and stigmatized inner city communities--all without appearing to have produced a measurable impact on actual drug use. In this episode of History Talk, hosts Patrick Potyondy and Mark Sokolsky interview three experts on the history of drug and alcohol regulation in America: Scott Martin on 19th century temperance and alcohol prohibition, Steven Siff on the illegalization and legalization of marijuana, and Clay Howard on the “urban crisis” of the 1980s and drugs, race, and disparities in enforcement. In each segment, they consider why drugs were made illegal in the first place, whether the fight is worth the cost, and what insights history may have for addressing drug use in America today. - Posted October 2016

On this episode of History Talk, host Patrick Potyondy interviews Jefferson Cowie, the James G. Stahlman Chair in the Department of History at Vanderbilt University. Cowie has written extensively on American economic, racial, cultural, and political history, and is the author most recently of The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics. In this interview, Cowie helps make sense of the 2016 presidential election by discussing the connections between the collapse of the New Deal exception, populism as the primary driving force of change in American politics, immigration as a key political pivot, the long-term movement of manufacturing jobs from place to place, and international trade like NAFTA and the TPP. He also explains why today's political climate looks a lot like the 1970s, not only in the electoral arena but in pop culture, too. - Posted September 2016

On this episode of History Talk, guests Johanna Sellman, Gulsah Toronoglu, and Sabra Webber discuss the diverse and dynamic history of women in the Middle East and North Africa. Highlighting the region's great range of historical experiences, they question the idea that women's rights marks a divide between Islamic societies and the "West," explore the history of women's movements, and address the ways in which the flourishing of new media is transforming political and artistic expression throughout the Islamic world. - Posted July 2016

As we near the centennial of the 19th Amendment—and with the possibility of America’s first female president on the horizon—History Talk takes a look at women’s role in American politics.  Guests Kimberly Hamlin, Susan Hartmann, and David Steigerwald discuss the impact of women’s suffrage in the twentieth century, the emergence of female political candidates, and the cultural and institutional hurdles faced by women seeking public office. - Posted June 2016

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the world's fastest-growing and most diverse regions—and also one of the most misunderstood. On this episode of History Talk, scholars Ousman Kobo, Amy Pate, and Amanda Robinson discuss ethnicity, nationality, and religion in contemporary African societies. Putting the emergence of religious extremism in a broader perspective, these experts highlight regional variations, historical developments, and the social and economic trends that are rapidly changing the face of the continent. - Posted May 2016

This month, John Mueller, Andrew Bacevich, and Peter Mansoor discuss the War on Terror (a.k.a. the war formerly known as the War on Terror), the US response to terrorism following 9/11.  In separate interviews, our guests address the origins of the war on terror and how it has developed over time; how the campaign against terror fits into broader historical patterns of US statecraft; and how public perceptions of terrorism have changed (or haven't changed) since the events of Sept. 11, 2001.  Join us for three wide-ranging discussions about some of the biggest questions facing American society and the international community in these uncertain times. - Posted April 2016

On this episode of History Talk, Patrick and Mark sit down with Donald Hempson,  Lauren Henry, and Chris Otter to discuss the history of the European Union, an organization that has united Europeans in ways that were almost unthinkable a century ago. Today, the EU faces an unprecedented combination of challenges, including a lingering economic crisis, a massive influx of migrants, and the specter of terrorism.  But as our guests tell us, the EU has proven to be surprisingly resilient and adaptable, constantly reinventing itself in the face of sweeping historic changes. - Posted March 2016

A highway bridge collapses in Minnesota, lead poisons the water of Flint, Michigan, and Americans are reminded of the fragile state of our basic infrastructure—the roads, pipes, power lines, and waterways that make modern life possible. On this episode of History Talk, panelists Steven Conn, Bernadette Hanlon, and Clay Howard discuss the history of public investment in American infrastructure, how it has reached such a perilous state, and what it can tell us about  changing conceptions of the common good. In addition, host Patrick Potyondy interviews the executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Tom Smith, who updates us on how our infrastructure is holding up today. --Posted February 2016 A History Talk Short: (00:04:50) Download MP3 Download MP4 Subscribe Open in iTunes In this segment of our episode on infrastructure and public investment in the United States, host Patrick Potyondy interviews Tom Smith, the Executive Director of the Ame

In this segment of our episode on infrastructure and public investment in the United States, host Patrick Potyondy interviews Tom Smith, the Executive Director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, who describes the current state of America's public infrastructure.                            --Posted February 2016  

Reproduction: it's as essential to life as breathing (more, actually), yet the right to make decisions regarding one’s reproduction is among the most divisive issues of our time. On this episode, Patrick Potyondy and Mark Sokolsky sit down with Mytheli Sreenivas, Allison Norris, and Molly Farrell to discuss the past, present, and future of reproductive rights and reproductive justice. What are “reproductive rights,” and how have they evolved over time? When, how, and why did abortion become such a controversial topic in the United States? How have people managed their reproduction throughout history, and what makes our situation today different? Join us as we address these and other questions in this month's edition of History Talk. - Posted January 2016

How and what we eat defines who we are. Food is both everywhere and nowhere, so normal that we rarely consider how radically the production and consumption of food have shaped not only human culture but the environment as well (and how radically the production of food has changed over time). Sample a little food history with historians Chris Otter, Helen Veit, and Sam White, who reveal that what we shove into our mouths has shaped our cultures, our bodies, and our planet.   - Posted December 2015

Delegates from across the globe will soon gather at the Paris Climate Change Conference, set to begin at the end of November. Sponsored by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, conference representatives will endeavor—not for the first time—to find ways to "stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system." On this episode of History Talk, three environmental historians, Sam White, John Brooke, and Nicholas Breyfogle, discuss past patterns of climate change—both recent and others from the deep planetary past—and what these historical processes of climate adaptation and survival tell us about humanity's prospects today. - Posted November 2015

Over the past months, the news media has presented dramatic scenes of desperate people trying to reach Europe by embarking on flimsy boats in Turkey and Greece, crossing barbed wire fences in Bulgaria and Hungary, catching rides in overcrowded trains in Macedonia, and sleeping in public squares in Serbia and elsewhere. But many more refugees find themselves in Middle Eastern countries like Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. This is hardly the first time that Europe or the Middle East has experienced mass migration. And all of the migrants in these two regions are but a small proportion of the total number of migrants across the globe. Locals are divided; while some greet the refugees with water, blankets, and toys, others utter ugly words, emphasize their own economic vulnerability, or simply turn their eyes away. Join guests Theodora Dragostinova, Robin Judd, and Steven Hyland as they discuss today’s refugee and migrant crisis in not only Europe but in the Middle East, too—all within the much larger cont

A New York Times editorial has declared it “A New Chapter for America and India.” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a point to reach out to the United States and will visit America for a second time at the end of September 2015. Does Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or “BJP,” also spell a new chapter for the world’s most populous democracy? What role does religion play in everyday Indian politics? And how does India—with a rising population and facing serious environmental issues—view itself on the world stage? Join guests Mytheli Sreenivas and Wendy Singer and hosts Leticia Wiggins and Patrick Potyondy as they explore the past and present of India. - Posted September 2015

In a recent, much publicized lecture — “It Takes a Historian to Understand the Middle East…Doesn’t It?” — Jane Hathaway of Ohio State's History Department offered a challenge to pundits and policymakers who seem unable to offer sound strategies for the Mideast. In this episode, hosts Leticia Wiggins and Patrick Potyondy ask three historians — Ayse Baltacioglu-Brammer, Patrick Scharfe, and Jane Hathaway — to lay out what you really need to know to understand this troubled region. - Posted August 2015 [A transcript of this podcast is available here.] Check out a lesson plan based on this article: Foreign Policy and the 3 Branches of Government, Syrian Crisis & American Government, and the Question of Immigration

Money and politics. While some think these two should be like oil and water, the simple fact is they’re not. And in the wake of the 2012Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court, Americans have worried over whether money really should equal free speech. Join hosts Leticia Wiggins and Patrick Potyondy as they ask guests Paula Baker, Marc Horger, and Steven Conn about the influence of dollars on the ballot box in U.S. history. At the core of this intriguing discussion is this: do huge bags of money really affect national politics as much as many fear? The answer is more complicated than you might think. 1889 cartoon “The Bosses of the Senate” by Joseph Keppler published in Puck magazine shows the bloated fat-cats of “Coal,” “Standard Oil Trust,” and “Steel Beam Trust” overseeing the work of a Congress that is clearly theirs. - Posted June 2015 Check out a lesson plan based on this article: Voting Restrictions in a “Democratic” United States

Violence against women has a long history in human communities. Yet, we live in a time when people across the planet are beginning to give greater attention to this problem and, at times, to stand against misogynistic violence in all its forms. Recently, the United Nations created the "He for She" campaign, which highlights that violence against women remains a global problem that exists at "alarmingly high levels." This month, History Talk hosts Patrick Potyondy and Leticia Wiggins sit down to discuss the origins of gender violence, its existence throughout history, and issues affecting women globally with scholars Treva Lindsey, Cathy Rakowski, and Peggy Solic. -Posted May 2015