Conversations in World History

In this Teacher's Corner episode, I speak with Nora Schaffer, a social studies teacher in Brooklyn, NY. Nora has a fascinating background in art history, anthropology, and restaurant management. She is now pursuing a PhD in education at Columbia University's Teachers College and we discuss how she brings all her various expertise to the classroom. Additionally, we talk about ways to make the learn...

Professor Peter Burke is a Life Fellow of Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge. He has published hundreds of articles and more than 30 books since the early 1970s. His work has been translated into 33 languages. We discuss his most recent book called Ignorance: a Global History .    Books recommended by Peter: The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb Terra Incognita by Alain Corbin

Peter Bol is the Charles H. Carswell Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. We discuss the two dynasties --T'ang and Sung-- that rule China from about 618-1279 CE. We talk about why this period is important for Chinese and World History and the conversation ranges from what the high school textbook gets right and wrong to Neo-Confucianism to Chinese minorities a...

Liz Clarke is a South African illustrator who has been the artist behind seven graphic histories  from Oxford University Press including Abina and the Important Men and Witness to the Age of Revolution , both of which have been discussed on the podcast. We talk about the process of making graphic histories and the challenges in creating a visual representation of the past. We discuss the collabora...

Marie Favereau is Associate Professor of History at Paris Nanterre University. We discuss her book The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World , which was shortlisted for the Cundhill Prize for the best history writing in English. The Khanate of the Golden Horde was the empire ruled by Chinggis Khan's descendants in Russia and Central Asia. Marie explains how the Mongol Empire was unique, the val...

Andrew Porwancher is a professor of history at the University of Oklahoma who teaches courses in Constitutional Studies. He earned his Ph. D. in history from Cambridge. We discuss his book T he Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton , which won the Journal of the American Revolution Book-of-the-Year Award. Andrew has held research fellowships at a number of universities, including Harvard, Princeton,...

Today I speak with Adam Hochschild, journalist, lecturer at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and author of eleven books. American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis  is his most recent. King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa  and  To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918  were both selected...

Today I’m speaking with Professor Christopher Ebert of Brooklyn College and Professor Thiago Kause of UNIRIO, which is the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. They are co-authoring a book about the history of the city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of colonial Brazil. Chris was my master’s thesis advisor about a decade ago and he previously wrote a book called Between Empires: Brazilian...

I’m speaking with the author of The Island at the Center of the World , Russell Shorto. Russell is a narrative historian who tells a story like no other, but he also makes thought-provoking and compelling arguments. Along with The Island at the Center of the World, we discuss his book Amsterdam about the important history of the Dutch capital. He recently came out with another book Smalltime about...

I speak with Christian Bailey , professor of Modern European History at SUNY Purchase. Christian recently published the book German Jews in Love: A History , which traces the experience of Jewish marriages from the 1870s until the post-WWII era. He uses diaries, love letters, and other sources to connect the personal to the political and illuminate the German Jewish home and notions of love.    Bo...

Today I’m speaking with Professor Yuma Totani about the post-WWII war crimes trials that the allies held against the Japanese. You may have heard of the more famous Nuremberg Trials against Nazi war crimals, which we mention, but here we will delve into the lesser known Far East trials. From 1946-1948, 11 countries including the United States prosecuted thousands of Japanese for charges ranging fr...

I speak to John Shekitka about what is worth knowing in social studies education. We begin with a discussion of the Neo-Confucian philosophers' and their view on moral vs. intellectual learning and then we branch off from there in a fun, lively, thought-provoking conversation about history education. John is a professor of social studies education at Manhattanville College and after teaching high...

What is Confucianism? How could Confucianism help us grow moral? Stephen Angle is a professor of East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University. He specializes in Chinese Philosophy, Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism, and comparative philosophy. He is the author of a fantastic little green book called Growing Moral: A Confucian Guide to life . It is insightful, friendly, accessible, and hits the sweet spo...

Massimo Pigliucci is the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. He has written many books, including How to Be A Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life (Basic Books) as well as Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk (University of Chicago Press). Here, I speak with him about the ancient Greeks and their teachings on character, virtue, politics...

Professor Chuck Walker and I discuss the Tupac Amaru Rebellion in colonial Peru as well as connections to the unrest in Peru in 2023. We delve into women's roles in the rebellion, conceptions of Latino identity, racism against indigenous Quechua speakers, and much more.   Chuck is a professor of history at UC-Davis and the author of many acclaimed books on Peruvian history including The Tupac Amar...

I speak with Professor Merry Wiesner-Hanks , Distinguished Professor Emerita of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and former president of the World History Association. Merry has written books like A Concise History of the World and Early Modern Europe. We talk about women's history in general and the misconceptions about the lives of women in the past.    See here for a teaching worksheet for thi...

I speak with World History Association president Jonathan Reynolds about the Cold War in Africa. Jonathan is a professor of African History at Northern Kentucky University. He's the type of teacher we all wish we'd had. Jonathan has written a number of books, including Sovereignty and Struggle: African and Africans in the Cold War . This short book has a ton of flair and the same vibrant voice tha...

Trevor Getz is a professor of African History at San Francisco State University. We discuss the what constitutes Africa, the tools for studying African history, misconceptions about Africa, and more. Trevor has written a number of books including Abina and the Important Men , Cosmopolitan Africa , and A Primer for Teaching African History . He is also Vice-President of the World History Associatio...

"Teacher's Corner" episodes are conversations with K-12 educators about how they bring topics in world history to life. Here, I chat with Andy Snyder about The Good Life (or "Living your Best Life"), his high school philosophy class. Andy was my former colleague at Harvest Collegiate, a public school in New York City, and he is one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking teachers I have had t...

I talk with Professor Matthew Restall of Penn State University about his book When Montezuma Met Cortes . We discuss the problems with the traditional narrative and the ways that an approach centered on the actions of indigenous Mexicans is more accurate and more interesting. Did Montezuma really surrender? Did he give away his empire in his speech to Cortes? Did Cortes kidnap Montezuma? Did Aztec...

Ian Barrow is a professor of South Asian history at Middlebury College in Vermont. He has written three books, the latest being a history of the British East India Company. Ian is currently working on a new book about the history of the independence struggles in South Asia.  We discuss the meaning of India, power and resistance in colonial South Asia, the myth of Gandhi, causes of Indian independe...