I also quite enjoy The Rest is History, which I believe I came across from your recommendation on Twitter some time ago!
In a very different style, but I’m going to count it as a history podcast, Le Village by Radio Canada and CBC (I listened in French, but an English version was also released, I’m not sure whether it has any substantive differences) was excellent, covering an important period of history for the gay community in Montreal and the relationship between the gay community and the Montreal police in the 1980s and 90s.
I also hugely enjoy Slate’s Slow Burn (topics have included Watergate, the Clinton sex scandal and impeachment, and the lead-up to the Iraq war) and One Year (each season looking at unrelated and more-or-less forgotten stories a from a particular year; they’ve done 1977, 1995, and 1942) podcasts.
All of the above are produced by journalists and I don’t know to what extent they have any academic historians involved in their teams, but they are all, as far as I can evaluate, serious and credible.
1) As a grim, humourless New Brunswicker who is now living in the UK, I'm deeply offended and demand a duel.
2) On the War With Germany newspaper headline point, this is not as absurd as it sounds in retrospect. The UK had been involved in dozens of limited wars in the previous century, most of which were hardly noticeable to the folks back home. Even the Crimean war 'only' had c.25,000 British casualties and didn't require a major reordering of society. No one was planning for, or had anticipated, that it would indeed become a total war of unprecedented industrial destruction.
The best book I've read about the first world war ends at the beginning of the war; it's called 'The Sleepwalkers', by Christopher Clark, and does a truly excellent job zooming in to the internal dynamics of the main players. In particular, he does not make the mistake of assigning agency to countries, but rather to individuals within those countries, which can often be inconsistent and chaotic.
3) Podcasts: Most interview podcasts are terrible because most interviewers are not adequately prepared. The only two non-rubbish interview podcasts I've listened to (and I've listened to many) are:
3.1) The Ezra Klein show, for a wide range of interesting topics at a moderate level of depth.
3.2) 80,000 Hours: The show's own description says it best: "The 80,000 Hours Podcast features unusually in-depth conversations about the world’s most pressing problems and how you can use your career to solve them." the organisation's pragmatic emphasis gives a particularly grounded and focussed slant to the discussions which helps with both depth and understanding.
Both shows have full-time researchers and fact-checkers, the hosts have always read the underlying material (and lots of supporting material), and it shows in the quality of the conversations.
Dan Carlin fans I would recommend history impossible, martyrmade and history on fire as good substitutes once you have used up carlins library. Long form, deep and from a 'political Martian' perspective. Darryl cooper from martyrmades series on 'fear and loathing in new Jerusalem' for example is a landmark in the podcasting world
Mike Duncan’s ‘Revolutions’ series is a wonderful narrative history. Particularly his look at the Haitian and South American Revolutions, which, sadly, I knew almost nothing about before digging into them. There is no doubt much more for me to learn, but you have to start somewhere.
If you like the rest is history you'll probably like "in our time", widely considered the biggest jewel in the BBC podcasting crown. A little note for the dan Carlin fans, he did a two-parter on the rest is history a year or two back.
"In Our Time" is the pinnacle of civilization. Any time the British broadcasting model is debated, or the quality of the BBC doubted, the correct response is to say "In Our Time" and walk away.
Some of Dr. Ada Palmer's podcasts might interest you, such as her interviews with David Perry, a historian who studies the Middle Ages, and with Kathleen Belew, an expert on the history of white supremacist movements in the U.S. But most of her podcasts are about science fiction.
Palmer is a history professor at the University of Chicago and a science fiction novelist. I love her blog Ex Urbe (https://www.exurbe.com/). You might want to start with her post "On Progress and Historical Change". You can also find out more about her podcasts there.
Palmer is posting and releasing podcasts less frequently now because she has some chronic medical issues.
I asked one of my 23 year old staff members if he listened to any podcasts and I expected him to say “Joe Rogan!” or something in that vein. He replied he had been listening to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History lately . Likely in your “Horrible-Histories-for-grownups category”
My son moved to Aarhus Denmark just before the plague hit and we didn’t see him for two years, I developed an interest in all things Danish which led me to listen to the Twilight of the Aesir episode of Hardcore History. Five hour episode. Vikings. Skull piles.
The tempo could be described as adagio or andante perhaps so could likely have been shrunk to 4 hours but I found it entertaining, I listened in 5 sessions while throwing the Chuck-it ball for my Chesapeake cross in the hayfield behind my house.
If anyone knows of any good podcasts on Danish history or culture I’d be interested.
The Empire podcast is wonderful. William Dalrymple and Anita Anand are not unlike Tom Holland and Domenic Sandbrook in terms of rapport and wit. The first series about the Raj is a revelation and then they take on the entire history of the Ottomans. Vital listening!
God forbid those without “formal education” elect to self-educate and are passionate enough to want to share their knowledge with others.
I also quite enjoy The Rest is History, which I believe I came across from your recommendation on Twitter some time ago!
In a very different style, but I’m going to count it as a history podcast, Le Village by Radio Canada and CBC (I listened in French, but an English version was also released, I’m not sure whether it has any substantive differences) was excellent, covering an important period of history for the gay community in Montreal and the relationship between the gay community and the Montreal police in the 1980s and 90s.
I also hugely enjoy Slate’s Slow Burn (topics have included Watergate, the Clinton sex scandal and impeachment, and the lead-up to the Iraq war) and One Year (each season looking at unrelated and more-or-less forgotten stories a from a particular year; they’ve done 1977, 1995, and 1942) podcasts.
All of the above are produced by journalists and I don’t know to what extent they have any academic historians involved in their teams, but they are all, as far as I can evaluate, serious and credible.
1) As a grim, humourless New Brunswicker who is now living in the UK, I'm deeply offended and demand a duel.
2) On the War With Germany newspaper headline point, this is not as absurd as it sounds in retrospect. The UK had been involved in dozens of limited wars in the previous century, most of which were hardly noticeable to the folks back home. Even the Crimean war 'only' had c.25,000 British casualties and didn't require a major reordering of society. No one was planning for, or had anticipated, that it would indeed become a total war of unprecedented industrial destruction.
The best book I've read about the first world war ends at the beginning of the war; it's called 'The Sleepwalkers', by Christopher Clark, and does a truly excellent job zooming in to the internal dynamics of the main players. In particular, he does not make the mistake of assigning agency to countries, but rather to individuals within those countries, which can often be inconsistent and chaotic.
3) Podcasts: Most interview podcasts are terrible because most interviewers are not adequately prepared. The only two non-rubbish interview podcasts I've listened to (and I've listened to many) are:
3.1) The Ezra Klein show, for a wide range of interesting topics at a moderate level of depth.
3.2) 80,000 Hours: The show's own description says it best: "The 80,000 Hours Podcast features unusually in-depth conversations about the world’s most pressing problems and how you can use your career to solve them." the organisation's pragmatic emphasis gives a particularly grounded and focussed slant to the discussions which helps with both depth and understanding.
Both shows have full-time researchers and fact-checkers, the hosts have always read the underlying material (and lots of supporting material), and it shows in the quality of the conversations.
Dan Carlin fans I would recommend history impossible, martyrmade and history on fire as good substitutes once you have used up carlins library. Long form, deep and from a 'political Martian' perspective. Darryl cooper from martyrmades series on 'fear and loathing in new Jerusalem' for example is a landmark in the podcasting world
Mike Duncan’s ‘Revolutions’ series is a wonderful narrative history. Particularly his look at the Haitian and South American Revolutions, which, sadly, I knew almost nothing about before digging into them. There is no doubt much more for me to learn, but you have to start somewhere.
If you like the rest is history you'll probably like "in our time", widely considered the biggest jewel in the BBC podcasting crown. A little note for the dan Carlin fans, he did a two-parter on the rest is history a year or two back.
"In Our Time" is the pinnacle of civilization. Any time the British broadcasting model is debated, or the quality of the BBC doubted, the correct response is to say "In Our Time" and walk away.
You'll probably like Desert Island Discs, the other great jewel in the BBC crown. Especially this one: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0381l2v
Not a podcast but I am a fan of James Fell's On This Day In History Shit Went Down.
Some of Dr. Ada Palmer's podcasts might interest you, such as her interviews with David Perry, a historian who studies the Middle Ages, and with Kathleen Belew, an expert on the history of white supremacist movements in the U.S. But most of her podcasts are about science fiction.
Palmer is a history professor at the University of Chicago and a science fiction novelist. I love her blog Ex Urbe (https://www.exurbe.com/). You might want to start with her post "On Progress and Historical Change". You can also find out more about her podcasts there.
Palmer is posting and releasing podcasts less frequently now because she has some chronic medical issues.
The Extra Credits History podcast (Youtube channel) is somewhere in the middle of your "Horrible Histories" and "Why I left Academia" spectrum.
I've been listening to Gone Medieval and Not Just The Tudors from History Hits. They're both great.
I'm with you on Charlie Munger. And trying to make less mistakes than others :)
Another interesting column Dan 🍻
I asked one of my 23 year old staff members if he listened to any podcasts and I expected him to say “Joe Rogan!” or something in that vein. He replied he had been listening to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History lately . Likely in your “Horrible-Histories-for-grownups category”
My son moved to Aarhus Denmark just before the plague hit and we didn’t see him for two years, I developed an interest in all things Danish which led me to listen to the Twilight of the Aesir episode of Hardcore History. Five hour episode. Vikings. Skull piles.
The tempo could be described as adagio or andante perhaps so could likely have been shrunk to 4 hours but I found it entertaining, I listened in 5 sessions while throwing the Chuck-it ball for my Chesapeake cross in the hayfield behind my house.
If anyone knows of any good podcasts on Danish history or culture I’d be interested.
It is not about history, but I like Skeptics Guide to the Universe (theskepticsguide.org). It covers science news but also does a lot of debunking.
The Empire podcast is wonderful. William Dalrymple and Anita Anand are not unlike Tom Holland and Domenic Sandbrook in terms of rapport and wit. The first series about the Raj is a revelation and then they take on the entire history of the Ottomans. Vital listening!
A bit US-centric, but NPR's Throughline is great. Immersive and timely with the way they connect the past to current events.
A couple of great posts today, Dan. Thanks.