Tom Smith is Keasbey Research Fellow in American Studies at Selwyn College, Cambridge. This interview is based on his new book, Word across the Water: American Protestant Missionaries, Pacific Worlds, and the Making of Imperial Histories (Cornell University Press, 2024). […]
historiography
The Author’s Corner with Richard L. Kagan
Richard L. Kagan is Arthur O. Lovejoy Professor Emeritus and Academy Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University. This interview is based on his new book, The Inquisition’s Inquisitor: Henry Charles Lea of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024). JF: What […]
Frank Thompson died a hero. His brother, historian E.P. Thompson, “spent his life wondering why.”
This is a fascinating story about the life of one of the 20th century’s great economic and social historians and the memory of his brother. Here is Madoc Cairns at The New Statesman: When they told Frank Thompson they would […]
Episode 108: “The Life and Legacy of C. Vann Woodward”
In this episode we explore the life, ideas, and writings of one of the 20th-century most influential American historians–C. Vann Woodward, author of The Strange Career of Jim Crow. Our guest is James Cobb, author if C. Vann Woodward: America’s Historian. In […]
The class conflict at the heart of the American Revolution
Over at Jacobin, historian William Hogeland discusses his ongoing work on “workers” and “elites” in the late eighteenth century. Here is a taste of his interview with Astra Taylor: ASTRA TAYLOR: Can you talk about what your narrative of America’s […]
Catholic historian Christopher Shannon discusses Catholic and Evangelical historiography
If you have been reading Current this week you may have noticed that we featured an interview with historian Christopher Shannon and a review of his new book American Pilgrimage: A Historical Journey Through Catholic Life in a New World. […]
Academic historians debate the legacy of David McCullough
Before the whole James Sweet presentism thing went down, American historians were on Twitter arguing about David McCullouugh. Over at History News Network, Rebecca Brenner Graham calls our attention to the debate that took place in the immediate wake of […]
Why did the chicken cross the road? Historians respond.
University of Chicago historian Kathleen Belew is teaching her students how different kinds of historians might respond to this age old question: Here are some the answers she has received:
Episode 91: “Providential History and the Pacific Northwest”
Did Marcus Whitman “save” Oregon? In this episode we talk with Sarah Koenig, author of Providence and the Invention of American History. She tells the story of a Protestant missionary to the Pacific Northwest and how his story provides a […]