Examining the Past: A History Podcast

This episode explains how pirates have become romanticized figures in popular culture despite the historical reality that they were often brutal criminals who used extreme violence. It traces how fact and fiction blended over time through literature, poetry, theater, and film—from early accounts like  A General History of the Pyrates  to works by Byron, Stevenson’s  Treasure Island , and later pop...

We will be taking a break before starting our 3rd season "Pirates in the Americas, 1500-1750" in December 2025.

This episode covers the Columbian Exchange  and how it radically reshaped the world after 1492, as plants, animals, and especially diseases crossed between the Old and New Worlds, devastating Native populations while enriching Europe with new crops and resources. This “ecological imperialism” altered landscapes, expanded biotas, and sparked a biological revolution of global scale, though its effec...

This episode examines how European conquest of the Americas was shaped not only by the search for wealth, resources, and glory but also by ideas of gender and sexuality. Europeans often sexualized the New World itself and Native women, interpreting nakedness, gender roles, and relationships through their own cultural biases. These encounters revealed deep contrasts between European and Native view...

This episode explains how communication between Europeans and Native Americans was essential but extremely difficult due to the vast diversity of languages and dialects on both sides. At first, people relied on signs, gestures, charades, and later pidgins and jargons, but these methods were limited and often led to misunderstandings or wishful interpretations. Over time, interpreters—whether Nativ...

This episode delves into European colonial powers use of missionary work as a tool to spread Christianity, enforce cultural assimilation, and secure control over indigenous populations, though results were mixed and often destructive. Spanish Franciscans in Florida and New Mexico imposed strict religious and cultural changes, sparking resistance such as the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, while French Jesu...

This episode delves into the early trade between Europeans and Native Americans, which revolved around fur castor, and wumpumpeage. Contrary to the stereotype of exploitation, Indigenous groups had long-standing, complex trade networks and cultural protocols—centered around gift-giving, diplomacy, and ceremony—that Europeans had to respect to succeed. As trade intensified, it led to overhunting, w...

The episode delves into the Iroquois Confederacy's formation in the 16th century under the "Tree of Peace," uniting five tribes. The Iroquois were strategically positioned along vital waterways, becoming powerful players in the fur trade. The arrival of Europeans introduced firearms, diseases, and a new trade system that transformed native societies. The fur trade, sought-after items...

This episode covers the Dutch first contact experience in America. Spanish successes in exploration and the conquest of central America forces other European nations to try to explore and colonize the new world as well, whether for economic or political rivalries. This lecture covers the Dutch attempt at early Colonization and the establishment of New Amsterdam.

This episode delves into the second colonization push by France at Canada. Between 1632 and 1663, France reestablished its presence in Québec through a combination of missionary zeal, private fur trade ventures, and fragile settlements dependent on Indigenous alliances, while facing constant Iroquois attacks and meager support from the Crown. Despite the hardships, including disease, warfare, and...

This episode discusses the French exploration and settlement of parts of North America mainly for economic reasons like fishing and the fur trade, rather than empire-building, facing harsh climates and limited resources. Alliances with Indigenous peoples and leaders by Cartier and Champlain helped establish New France, though colonization efforts were slow and often unstable. 

This episode explores the role of disease and epidemics on the conquest of the new world.

This episode delves into the early encounters between European explorers and Native Americans in New England. The discussion covers the explorations of George Weymouth and John Smith, as well as the interactions between European fishermen and the indigenous people. It covers the challenges and conflicts that arose between the explorers and the natives, leading to a complex relationship marked by c...

The early English colonization of Virginia was marked by deadly disease, environmental hardship, violent conflict with the Powhatan Empire, and the collapse of the Virginia Company, leading to royal control in 1624. Driven by dreams of wealth, empire, and religious conversion, the English settlers underestimated the power of the Powhatan confederacy, whose ruler—Powhatan—had built a rare and formi...

This episode covers the first attempts by the English to colonize the New World, first at Roanoke and then in the Chesapeake Bay of Virginia

Before European colonization, the rich marine resources around Newfoundland — particularly cod and whales — attracted fishing and whaling expeditions that laid the groundwork for colonization, international trade, and cross-cultural contact.

This episode discusses England's long term attempt to colonize Ireland (it's first attempt at colonization) and how it relates to English experiences at the colonization of the New World.

This episode discusses the De Soto expedition to  La Florida and its exploration of what eventually becomes the south eastern United States. 

This lecture discusses the Spanish conquest of the Aztec (Mexica) and Inka empires.

This episode covers the Islamic invasion of the Iberian peninsula, the Reconquista, and discusses how these events led to the Spanish discovery of the Americas.

This episode covers the resurgence of long-distance trade in the 15th century saw a mix of traditional and innovative strategies to revive old routes and establish new maritime networks, with sea routes increasingly dominating over land-based trade. China played a crucial role, with its economic growth under the Ming dynasty driving regional commerce, while silver became the main currency for trad...

This episode discusses Christopher Columbus and the world he lived in prior to the discovery. It will emphasize his education, European knowledge of the world, and why the Spanish government gave him the opportunity to explore. 

This episode covers the Europe in the 15th century, once weakened by plague, internal conflict, and technological backwardness, began a dramatic transformation driven by a desire to bypass Muslim-controlled trade routes and access the wealth of Africa and Asia. Led by Spain and Portugal, Europeans developed advanced ships like the caravel, explored the Atlantic, colonized islands such as the Canar...

This episode covers the first (documented?) contact in the new world between Europeans and Native peoples. Norse seafarers from Scandinavia, particularly Leif Erikson and his successors, established brief and ultimately unsuccessful settlements in North America around the year 1000 A.D., most notably at L’Anse aux Meadows in present-day Newfoundland. These expeditions, based on saga accounts, were...

This episode explores the culture and religions of the Native peoples of the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus in 1492.