Armchair Historians

Send us Fan Mail What happens when one forgotten diary, a trunk full of artifacts, and decades of research bring an erased woman’s story back into view? In this episode of Armchair Historians , I’m joined by writer, teacher, and my former multimedia writing mentor, Sonja Mongar , to talk about her powerful work on Cora Paul — a real woman whose life unfolded between Victorian expectations and mode...

Send us Fan Mail Armchair Historians Show Notes Marcus James — Queer History of London / Molly Houses Episode Summary In this episode of Armchair Historians, Anne Marie Cannon talks with Marcus James, founder of Queer London Tours, about the hidden and deeply human history of queer London. Their conversation focuses especially on the world of Molly Houses in Georgian London—clandestine spaces wher...

Send us Fan Mail Author Gigi Berardi joins Anne Marie Cannon to discuss Bianca’s Cure, a historical novel inspired by Bianca Capello, Renaissance Florence, women’s hidden knowledge, and the search for a cure for malaria. Together, they explore alchemy, medicine, power, and the ways women carved out influence in a world designed to constrain them. Learn more about Gigi Berardi: https://gigiberardi....

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Armchair Historians, Anne-Marie Cannon talks with award-winning historical fiction author Janis Robinson Daly about her inspiring #31titleswomeninhistory initiative, a Women’s History Month project that spotlights historical fiction by women authors centered on women whose stories deserve more room in the historical record. Janis shares how the project began as...

Send us Fan Mail Author Laurie Marr Wasmund returns to Armchair Historians to talk about her new historical novel Catching It Lovely , inspired by her great-great-grandmother Jane Morton Scott —a Scottish immigrant whose journey carried her from the textile towns of Scotland to Chicago, and finally to a homestead in Colorado Territory.  We explore how Laurie blends archival research with historica...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Armchair Historians , Anne-Marie Cannon sits down with Dr. Khama Ennis , emergency physician and creator of Faces of Medicine , a documentary and podcast that shares the powerful, candid stories of Black women physicians in the United States. The conversation begins with Dr. Ennis’s favorite history: Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler , the first Black woman to earn a med...

Send us Fan Mail Black History Month Rewind: Buffalo Soldiers (Fighting on Two Fronts) — with Nick Brooks EPISODE SUMMARY In honor of Black History Month, we’re rewinding some of Armchair Historians’ strongest episodes that spotlight Black history, Black voices, and stories that deserve more room in the public memory. Today’s rewind revisits my conversation with Air Force veteran and Buffalo Soldi...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Anne-Marie Cannon is joined by author Barbara Stark-Nemon , whose novels span centuries and borders. They dive into Barbara’s newest historical novel, Isabela’s Way , set in Inquisition-era Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany, and explore how history lives on through family memory, travel, and storytelling. Topics we cover Isabela’s Way and the history behind it T...

Send us Fan Mail Puppy Chronicles and Early Germanic Tribes: A Heartwarming Historical Journey In this episode of Armchair Historians, host Anne-Marie Cannon introduces her new puppy, Rocco, and explores the early Germanic tribes through his eyes. Drawing parallels between Rocco's adaptation to his new home and historical tribal life, Anne-Marie delves into kinship, warrior bands, and cultura...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Armchair Historians , host Anne Marie Cannon interviews historical fiction author Janis Robinson Daly , whose work unearths the forgotten stories of early women doctors and the generations who paved the way for them. Janis shares how genealogy research led her to discover that her great-great-grandfather was both an abolitionist lawyer and a founder of the Woman...

Send us Fan Mail Episode summary: This is a personal, behind-the-scenes episode on why Tudor England became the setting for The Bedlam Series : the whiplash of religious change, the evolving Tudor monarchs, and how “madness” was understood, feared, and controlled—especially around Bethlehem Hospital (“Bedlam”). Along the way, Anne Marie threads careful parallels to current U.S. events and the emot...

Send us Fan Mail ARMCHAIR HISTORIANS — Season 5, Episode 1 “Under One Roof: A New Season, A New Chapter” Hello, fellow Armchair Historians. Welcome back. In this Season 5 premiere, I’m officially bringing everything I create—podcasting, historical fiction, research rabbit holes, vintage fashion history, and documentary work—under one roof. You can now find the whole universe (and all the links) at...

Send us Fan Mail This week’s Rewind episode brings back one of our most memorable conversations—perfect for anyone who’s ever felt that jolt of wonder holding a fragment of the past. Anne Marie sits down with noted mudlark Jason Sandy —member of the Society of Thames Mudlarks, trustee of the Thames Museum Trust , and co-author of Thames Mudlarking: Searching for London’s Lost Treasures —to explore...

Send us Fan Mail Every town has its ghosts. For the quiet Colorado mining town of Silver Plume , those ghosts are real people who vanished without a trace. In this two-part Halloween special of Armchair Historians , host Anne Marie Cannon talks with award-winning filmmaker Eric Walter , whose documentaries explore the unsettling corners of human experience. Walter’s film Dark Side of the Mountain...

Send us Fan Mail In this special Halloween edition minisode, host Anne Marie Cannon continues her conversation with documentary filmmaker Eric Walter , diving into the making of his award-winning film My Amityville Horror. In the documentary, Daniel Lutz recounts his own chilling version of the infamous Amityville haunting that terrified his family in 1975—an experience that would inspire a best-s...

Send us Fan Mail This is part one of an interview Anne Marie did in 2020. Sadly, shortly after the interview, Jeff Lipkes passed away. This episode is dedicated to him. Jeff Lipkes was born and raised in Los Angeles and educated at U.C. Berkeley and Princeton, completing his Ph. D. in History in 1995. His dissertation was awarded the Joseph Dorfman Prize by the History of Economics Society. Rehear...

Send us Fan Mail It's been a while, fellow Armchair Historians! Welcome back to the show!! This episode is the first in a series. This supplementary podcast to the in-production documentary Last Train Leaving Belgium is the first episode, which introduces the story of Therese, an eight-year-old Belgian child facing the soon-to-be occupation of her country by foreign invaders. Over the next fe...

Send us Fan Mail Hello, fellow Armchair Historians. We're back and ready to bring more amazing histories. In this episode, Anne Marie talks to bestselling author Scott Eyman. Scot is a prolific writer whose muse is the enduring careers of iconic film industry legends. Scott talks about his latest book, Charlie Chaplin Vs. America: When Art, Sex, And Politics Collide. Scott Eyman website: http...

Send us Fan Mail PART 2 listen to PART1 here: Ahoy, mateys! Anne Marie here! In this episode, we share part 2 of Anne Marie's interview with Marcus Rediker and David Lester about their graphic novel, Under the Banner of King Death. Yup, that’s right, we’re going to talk about Pirates. If you listened to our most recent mini episode , you met David and Marcus in our Let’s get Quizzical segment...

Send us Fan Mail In this mini episode, Anne Marie revisits Black Tudors, by Miranda Kaufmann. Anne Marie purchased the book whilst visiting Mary Rose Museum back in 2017 to research the African presence in Tudor England. One of the central figures, perhaps the most well known black Tudor, John Blanke appears in the historical record as well as Tudor art. Miranda Kaufmann, website: http://www.miran...

Send us Fan Mail Ahoy, mateys! Anne Marie here! In this episode, we share part 1 of Anne Marie's interview with Marcus Rediker and David Lester about their graphic novel, Under the Banner of King Death. Yup, that’s right, we’re going to talk about Pirates. If you listened to our most recent mini episode , you met David and Marcus in our Let’s get Quizzical segment. Not only do we talk about e...

Send us Fan Mail When 34-year-old Charlie Clarke was feeling down about losing his beloved dog to cancer, he decided to go metal detecting to take his mind off of his loss. Sometimes good things happen at the worst of times, and that's just what happened to Charlie when he uncovered a never before seen early sixteenth-century artifact. David Lester and Marcus Rediker, authors of Under the Ban...

Send us Fan Mail Part 2 of Anne Marie's interview with Anna Borzello about her years foraging along the foreshore for remnants of the lives of everyday people, breadcrumbs that lead to snapshots of the past, bringing into sharper focus the commonplace, for the times, routines of ordinary people. Anna is a crafty historian, able to spin an engaging narrative around each artifact she finds. In...

Send us Fan Mail Minisode: February 4, This Day in History Listen to this episode to discover what happened on this day in history. Clues are in the title! The People History: https://www.thepeoplehistory.com History: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/on-this-day Support the show Follow us on Social Media: Instagram: @armchairhistorians Facebook: ht...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Anne Marie talks to  Anna Borzello. Previously, she worked as the BBC correspondent for Focus in Africa in Uganda from 1995 to 2001. These days you can find Anna on the River Thames foreshore foraging for historical artifacts which tell the story of London’s expansive history. Anna admittedly plans her life around the river’s tides. Before she commits to doctor’s...