History Matters

What counts as genocide? How has the discussion of genocide shaped our understanding of the 20th century? Here we discuss the Katyn massacre and its historical ramifications.

Younger scholars and graduate students interested in publishing their academic work can discover a lot of landmines: editorial gatekeepers, rude feedback, and the imposter syndrome can keep many from submitting honest and interesting work. We walk you through our experiences of publishing in academic presses to suggest publishing your work is an achievable goal. Much of what keeps people out of th...

I gave up my tenured full professor job at a two-year institution to teach history at a local High School. I have enjoyed it immensely so far. Do you feel trapped in a dead end academic job? Perhaps teaching High School is a way to reach a new audience and embrace a new community. Join us as we talk about the pros and cons of trading in the Ivory Tower for the High School classroom.

In this episode, we dissect President John F. Kennedy's assassination and discuss why historians have been reluctant to talk about the event. We discuss the conspiracy behind the President's death, we place his assassination within a global Cold War context, we examine why every American (young and old) should care about this event, and we name names. Join us for a fascinating conversation...

Just in time for the UAW strike against Ford, GM, and Stellantis. The UK has a Labor party. Why doesn't the United States? Join History Matters for a discussion that looks at this question as we chart it across American history from Jefferson's Empire of Liberty to the Reagan Revolution.

In this episode we discuss the U.S. Civil War, the mythology of the Lost Cause, and whether a second civil war looms on the American horizon. 

Clifton, Steve, and I make our predictions on the 2022 midterm elections in Georgia and for the federal midterm elections. Our conversation then turns to vitality of democracy and the potential existential threats to democracy that make this midterm election so important. Is this the end of the world as we know it?  

Steve Blankenship, Clifton Pucket, and Shannon Bontrager discuss the importance of the Mid-term elections and the state of politics in Georgia and the U.S. 

Why are so many history teachers planning to leave the K-12 system? What are the causes of this academic great resignation? Marcus "Sankofa" Nicks, founder of History Heals Consulting L.L.C, a business devoted to using African American history as a vehicle to aid schools, institutions and businesses in fostering healthy and inclusive environments, joins us to discuss the problems and potential sol...

Ben Stahl was a former student of Steve's who served in Afghanistan. After two tours in Afghanistan, he earned the GI Bill to put himself through college and law school. Now a lawyer, Ben sat down with us in a local pub to talk about his personal memories and the issues that he believes prevents Americans from remembering the American war in Afghanistan. 

The story of American nurses who made up Hospital # 65 in France during the First World War. They worked during a pandemic with no vaccines to protect them. The duty and care they showed to their patients, no matter their race, ethnicity, or national identity, is inspiring and worthy of commemorating even if no monument yet exists to remember their heroic actions. 

In this episode we discuss the recent opinion editorial I wrote on the digital front Ukrainians opened up to defend themselves against the Russian invasion, why this front makes this a new kind of war, and how it will make it difficult for us to remember and commemorate the aftermath. You can read the entire editorial on the History News Network (HNN) here: A New Kind of Memory for a New Kind of W...

A historical review of the Netflix original series Munich at the Edge of War and how historical fiction can influence historians to reassess the past. Turning from the past to the present, the reassessment of Neville Chamberlain's legacy from Munich allows us to discuss the current military buildup on the Russian-Ukraine border and how historians might use the past to think about the present. &nbs...

A tour of the 2022 American Historical Association annual conference in New Orleans. Included is a brief walking tour of Jackson Park, a discussion of how McDonough High School changed its name while keeping it the same, coverage of the New Orleans street naming commission, Jacqueline Jones's Presidential address, and a discussion of Critical Race Theory and how historians should respond. Also inc...

In this episode Steve and I discuss World History in the survey course. We describe its methods and its advantages as well as what we hope our students get from it. We also discuss the debate between doing nationalist history and world history.

We discuss the five most important books that made us historians. From the historical Jesus to Montaillou and from Timothy Snyder to Jan Assmann, important authors and books shaped the way we view the past and the way  we teach history in our classes. Join us for Part 2 of this 2 part  series.

We discuss the five most important books that made us historians. From the Bible to Michel Foucault and from Edward Said to A.J.P. Taylor, important authors and books shaped the way we view the past and the way we teach history in our classes. Join us for Part 1 of this 2 part series. 

Where does history begin and memory end? Why do monuments fail to reflect history? How does memory illustrate a complicated and diverse Southern history? What does it mean to keep the past in the present? In a wide-ranging podcast, Steve Blankenship and Shannon Bontrager discuss their work on memory and history to explore what it means for us in the present. 

What does the recent evacuation of U.S. forces from Afghanistan say about the nature of American Empire? How can we approach this topic in the classroom and in public? In this episode Steve Blankenship and Shannon Bontrager discuss the American-Afghan relationship and the implications the evacuation might hold for the ways we discuss and teach the American empire and its impact on the environment,...

Professors Steve Blankenship and Shannon Bontrager discuss the influences of James Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong on history and how they use these "lies" in their history classrooms.