Conversations in World History

I speak with Robert Darnton , professor emeritus of Harvard University about his book The Revolutionary Temper: Paris, 1748-1789 .

I speak with Andrew Porwancher , professor of history at Arizona State University about his new book American Maccabee: Theodore Roosevelt and the Jews , which is published by Princeton University Press. 

I speak with Jonathan Reynolds about African Independence Movements in Algeria, Guinea, Senegal, Kenya, and Congo. Dr. Reynolds is a professor of African and World History at Northern Kentucky University and the former president of the World History Association. He is a wealth of knowledge on all things Africa and just an overall blast to speak with. You can also check out my episode with him on A...

I speak with Dario Montero de Caso , professor of sociology at Universidad de Chile in Santiago. Dario is an old friend of mine and the author of the recently published book La Formación de la Sociedad Moderna. Tomo I”: Nacionalismo e individualismo (Formation of Modern Society. 1st Volume: Nationalism and Individualism).   It is a fantastic conversation with a great friend and brilliant scholar....

I speak with Rachel Kousser , a professor of Greek and Roman Art and Architecture at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. She is also the author of the recent book, which received widespread rave reviews, Alexander at the End of the World -- about the last seven years of the life of Alexander the Great.   In addition to this great new book, Rachel recommends: Plutarch's Biography of Alex...

I speak with Professor Emeritus David Nasaw of the CUNY Graduate Center. We discuss his fantastic book The Last Million about the displaced persons and DP camps after WWII. I read this book to learn more about the four years my grandparents spent as refugees in Germany after the war and to learn how and why they came to the USA when they did. David Nasaw has also written award-winning biographies...

I speak with Stefanos Geroulanos , professor of history at NYU, about his new book The Invention of Prehistory and how humans have thought, written, and discussed our deepest past.

I speak with Professor Emeritus Judith Bennett about medieval women. Judith was a professor at USC-Dornsife as well as UNC Chapel Hill and she wrote the wonderful book A Medieval Life: Cecilia Penifader of Brigstock among others. 

Eugene Park is a professor of East Asian and Korean history at the University of Nevada-Reno. He earned his PhD from Harvard University in 1999 and has published numerous books and articles including the recent Korea: A History , which is the subject of our discussion.

In this episode, I speak with Karen Stohr about issues of ethics and morality involved in Hamas' terrorist attacks on Israeli citizens and Israel's retaliation. We discuss a variety of topics and questions in the abstract (or via other examples) to zoom away from the current crisis in order to discuss larger principles. Karen is a professor of metaphysics and moral philosophy at Georgetown Univers...

Dr. Max Lazar is a social studies teacher and department chair at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in NYC. He earned his doctorate in history from U.N.C. Chapel-Hill. His dissertation focused on Jewish integration in Frankfurt between 1914-1938. Max teaches a course called "Dual Narratives" at the Heschel School and he shares his insights and experience providing a balanced historical approach to...

Christopher Goscha is a professor of history at Université du Québec à Montréal, specializing in the Cold War in Asia as well as questions of colonisation and decolonisation in the Afro-Asian world. Chris  has published several books including The Road to Dien Bien Phu: A History of the First War for Vietnam (Princeton University Press, 2022), The Penguin History of Vietnam (Penguin/Random House,...

Yesterday was the anniversary of the death of the great British Abolitionist Thomas Clarkson who died on September 26, 1846. In recognition and remembrance of Clarkson's monumental and tireless work to end the slave trade and slavery in the British Empire, I am re-airing my fascinating conversation with the journalist Adam Hoschchild, author of one of my favorite history books: Bury the Chains: Pr...

Dr. Gretchen Starr-LeBeau recently wrote the book Seven Myths of the Spanish Inquisition , which is the focus of our conversation. She earned her Ph. D. at the University of Michigan and now is the chair of the Religious Studies Program at Principia College. She is a professor who cares about teaching, earning the Chancellor’s Outstanding Teaching Award at the University of Kentucky in 2001 as wel...

I speak with Professor David Troyansky of Brooklyn College, a specialist in the French Revolution and the history of aging. Professor Troyansky has been teaching and writing at the university level for almost 40 years. 

Wolf Gruner is a professor of history at USC-Dornsife, chair of Jewish Studies, and author of the recently published book Resisters: How Ordinary Jews Fought Persecution in Hitler's Germany . We discuss his book as well as the state of Holocaust Studies.    Wolf recommends two other books on the Holocaust for a general reader: David Engel's The Holocaust: The Third Reich and the Jews Marion Kaplan...

Sarah Clunis is the Curator of African Collections at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. Dr. Clunis has taught art history for over twenty years at public universities and historically Black colleges and universities. Her research and classes have focused on the history of African art and the display of African objects in Western museum settings.    Host: David Sherrin Learn about him at da...

John Schwaller is a scholar of early colonial Latin America, and of Nahuatl and the Nahua (the Aztec language and people) Dr. Schwaller is the author of five books and the editor of three others. Matthew Restall is a Colonial Latin American Historian with areas of specialization in Yucatan and Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, Maya history, the Spanish Conquest, and Africans in Spanish America. He has...

John Schwaller is a scholar of early colonial Latin America, and of Nahuatl and the Nahua (the Aztec language and people) Dr. Schwaller is the author of five books and the editor of three others. Matthew Restall is a Colonial Latin American Historian with areas of specialization in Yucatan and Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, Maya history, the Spanish Conquest, and Africans in Spanish America. He has...

John Schwaller is a scholar of early colonial Latin America, and of Nahuatl and the Nahua (the Aztec language and people) Dr. Schwaller is the author of five books and the editor of three others. Matthew Restall is a Colonial Latin American Historian with areas of specialization in Yucatan and Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, Maya history, the Spanish Conquest, and Africans in Spanish America. He has...

Lisa Cohen holds a PhD in history from Yale University and recently retired from over 20 years of teaching at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in NYC. I began my career there where she was my department chair. We discuss the teaching of Jewish history and how to integrate Jewish history into a larger world (and American) history so that students learn about more than just the Holocaust.

On this episode, I am a guest on Dr. Johanna David-Tramantano's educational podcast Literacy Landscapes . We discuss my views on the use of art as an authentic form of producing history and making arguments about the past. Here's a chance to get a better sense of what my classroom looks like.

In this special "Student's Corner" episode, a group of students from my class at Scarsdale High School share their research paper findings in two minute segments. The students spent about five months developing topics, questions, and research, including primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. These types of authentic research papers are quite rich and thought-provoking as they emerge from studen...

I speak with Joseph Sassoon , Professor and Director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies of Georgetown University. Joseph is also the author of the recent book The Sassoons: The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire . A NYTimes review of the book can be found here . We discuss the fascinating Sassoon family, a conversation that takes us from 19th century Baghdad to Mumbai and...