Historically Thinking
We believe that when people think historically, they are engaging in a disciplined way of thinking about the world and its past. We believe it gives thinkers a knack for recognizing nonsense; and that it cultivates not only intellectual curiosity and rigor, but also intellectual humility. Join Al Zambone, author of Daniel Morgan: A Revolutionary Life, as he talks with historians and other professionals who cultivate the craft of historical thinking.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 62 minutes
- Episodes
- 312
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
Episode 135: Timefulness, or, Where Geology and History Meet
“Timefulness," writes guest Marcia Bjornerud, "includes a feeling for distances and proximities in the geography of deep time. Focusing simply on the age of the Earth is like describing a symphony in…
00:47:01 |
Wed 20 Nov 2019
Episode 134: Inventing Disaster, or, the Creation of a Culture of Calamity
Cultures give us guardrails for behavior, beyond which we can only pass with difficulty. They also give us what to say in a difficult situation, a script that helps us to get the words out, even give…
01:16:23 |
Wed 13 Nov 2019
Episode 133: Mad Dogs and Other New Yorkers, or, Rabies in the City
Hello, in antebellum and late 19th century New York City, nothing could clear a street faster than the cry of “mad dog!” Rabies was perhaps the most feared disease of the era; and because animals and…
01:00:52 |
Wed 06 Nov 2019
Episode 132: Armies of Deliverance, or, a New Interpretation of the American Civil War
"Of all the ongoing debates over the Civil War," writes my guest Elizabeth Varon, "perhaps none has proven so difficult to resolve as the issue of Northern war aims." Some historians have emphasized,…
01:07:26 |
Wed 30 Oct 2019
Episode 131: Red Meat Republic, or, the American Beef Economy of the Late Nineteenth Century
Americans love red meat. More particularly, they love beef. Always have. Archaeology of colonial America shows that British North Americans ate as much beef as they possibly could. Fish? No thank you…
00:49:05 |
Wed 23 Oct 2019
Episode 130: What’s the Point of College, or, Why There Should Be No Business Majors on Campus
Today's guest, Johann Neem, has recently written an essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled “Abolish the Business Major”. Here’s a taste:
The business major is for students who want a col…
01:16:28 |
Wed 16 Oct 2019
Episode 129: Who Fought for the South, or, the Myth of Black Confederates
On January 12, 1865, the Charleston Mercury gave its pronouncement upon plans in the Confederate Congress to enlist Black southerners into the Confederate Army in exchange for their emancipation:
By …
01:04:23 |
Wed 09 Oct 2019
Episode 128: Unbundling or Rebundling, and Making College Integrated
Many would-be college reformers, says my guest Chris Gallagher, talk about "unbundling". By this they mean breaking a college into parts to save on costs and increase efficiency. In reality, Gallaghe…
01:01:31 |
Wed 02 Oct 2019
Episode 127: King-Killers on the Run, or, The Curious Case and Afterlife of Whalley and Goffe
On Tuesday, January 30, 1649, Charles I, King of England, was beheaded. Fifty-nine men had signed his death warrant; and when, after a series of extraordinary events Charles II was restored to the th…
01:00:08 |
Wed 25 Sep 2019
Episode 126: Applying to College, or, How to Both Get in and Keep the Family Together
This is another of Historically Thinking’s occasional series on higher education, collectively titled “Higher Ed: A Guide for the Perplexed,” and it could hardly be more timely. There are few things…
01:04:04 |
Wed 18 Sep 2019
Episode 125: Asking Good Questions, or, How to Talk to People
Samuel Johnson once said "Questioning is not the mode of conversation among gentlemen. It is assuming a superiority, and it is particularly wrong to question a man concerning himself. There may be pa…
00:59:08 |
Wed 11 Sep 2019
Episode 124: Killing for the Republic, or, the Army of Ancient Rome
One of the best known legends of Ancient Rome, perhaps of more importance to subsequent centuries and millennia than even to Rome itself, was the legendary Cincinnatus. An opponent of allowing plebei…
01:14:03 |
Wed 04 Sep 2019
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