Wednesday, 2 May 2018

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best history podcasts right now

Ralph Ordaz

Last Updated: May 2nd

A great podcast is all about being able to tell a great story. The medium thrives on masterful storytellers recounting and analyzing a moment in time that may have been forgotten or misread. It’s all about weaving threads together and adding insight along the way. That’s why history podcasts are some of the best around.

Still, with our entire collective past to pick from, the best history podcast is hard to qualify. There’s a definite need for fascinating subject matter — but even that is almost always subjective. Some of us love hearing crazy stories from the golden age of Hollywood while others will easily get lost in the minute details of the Lutheran revolution. The possibilities stretch back all the way to the primordial soup.

Below are the 25 best history podcasts you can listen to right now. There are comedians riffing on improbable stories, hardcore history professors laying down masterclasses, and well-educated buffs diving into the worlds they love. There’s a little something for everyone. Enjoy!

DAN CARLIN’S HARDCORE HISTORY

This is the history lover’s history podcast. Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History‘s deep dives are the deepest out there. Carlin takes several hours (across several episodes in some multi-part series) to explore a single topic. Every moment will be riveting. If you perceive each episode like a short audiobook, you may have an easier time digesting the long running times. Besides, if you love history, the running times become inconsequential.

Most of the episodes are available for free, but some of the older archival episodes cost $1.99. The best place to start is with episode one of “Blueprint for Armageddon” which chronicles the first World War. From moment one, Carlin makes a Serbian assassination in 1914 something that every single one of us can relate to.

THE DOLLOP

The Dollop is American history filtered through absurdist comedy… and it’s kinda glorious. Hosts Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds power through some of the craziest stories from American history. Basically, each episode is Anthony telling Reynolds a snippet of history and the duo riffing on each beat as hard as they can for maximum comedy. It’s fun, delightfully informative, and very entertaining.

Where to start with this podcast? Hard to say. There are 300 free episodes available. So, if you listen to one a day, you have nearly a year’s worth of content to get through. If we had to pick one, we’d say start with the “Blackbeard” episode for a swashbuckling good time.

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY PODCAST

The New York Public Library Podcast goes deep into some meta concepts with a seriously surprising roaster of guests. NYPL Podcast is like showing up to your local library and striking up a conversation with John Lithgow about Shakespeare because you happen to bump into him. Every episode offers great insight and compelling storytelling.

There are over 100 episodes to chose from. So deciding on a place to start may just be a matter of scrolling through the episodes and seeing who’s talking what. A favorite, by far, is when Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons dropped by to talk meditation and the history of hip-hop.

THE MEMORY PALACE

Nate DiMeo is a classic public radio persona. If public radio isn’t your cup o’ tea, you may know him as the co-author of Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America. That should be a good indication of DiMeo’s style — a bit of absurdity grounded in great storytelling. It’s also a very concise listen. Each episode is rarely more than 15 minutes long.

There’s a handy playlist called Where Do I Start available on the podcast’s website. It’ll be hard not to listen to them all in one sitting.

BACKSTORY

Can anyone guess why 19th century New York City had so many pigs roaming the streets, well, besides their delicious smoked bellies? BackStory has the answer. Renowned U.S. historians Ed Ayers, Peter Onuf, and Brian Balogh have been tearing up the radio waves and podcast-sphere for a while now. Their tactic is to rip a story from the headlines and dive into the historical backstory.

There are some seriously deep cuts to listen to first — “Islam and the U.S.,” is a great starting point. “The History of Trash” (that’s what the pigs in New York were for), or the History of Travel in the USA are also solid choices for a taste of this great show.

STUFF YOU MISSED IN HISTORY CLASS

Where BackStory is about the big ideas of American history, Stuff You Missed in History Class is about the people and oddball minutiae that powered those ideas. Tracy Wilson and Holly Frey come from the HowStuffWorks world and started their podcast as a form of infotainment. There’s no fat on this podcast. Wilson and Frey jump right in and dig deep into the people and events that changed America and progressed our country ever forward.

A great place to start is the story of Mary Ann Shadd Cary. She was America’s first female newspaper editor and publisher who advocated for black lives and women’s rights in the late 19th century. She is an American hero.

YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS

Relishing the glamour and darkness of Hollywood history is a fine way to spend an hour or two. Karina Longworth is the Hollywood historian of our day. She’s written great biographies about stars like Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, and George Lucas. To say You Must Remember This digs deep would not be giving Karina Longworth enough credit. Her podcast is a complete and engaging history of the glamour and madness that is Hollywood.

A great series to start with is Longworth’s coverage on Charles Manson. The 12-part series is one of the most comprehensive oral histories of the madman available. Longworth also covers a complete history of The Black List, MGM, Stars at War, and so much more.

HISTORY OF PIRATES

The History of Pirates is a great diversion from the usual big moments that history podcast cover. Host Craig Buddy covers pirates from all over the world and how they came to their nefarious profession. Buddy draws you in with specificity and the simple fact that listening to someone who loves talking pirates is always fun.

A good place to start is Buddy’s pondering on whether Vikings can be considered pirates or not. Turns out it’s a much murkier question than initially thought.

1,001 HEROES, LEGENDS, HISTORIES & MYSTERIES

1,001 Heroes is part historical tome and part entertainment. It’s a look at history through the lens of what was written about that history. Host Jon Hagadorn takes his time but never lacks excitement as he covers our collective history and the literature that helps make up that history.

Diving into Jon’s podcast really is dealer’s choice. You can start by listening to his coverage of Ray Bradbury or F. Scott Fitzgerald. Or you can take the time to learn about some election politics that puts modern elections in a little more perspective.

LORE

Maybe keep the lights on for this one. Lore retells very scary and very real stories from our history. If you were in the woods, you’d be clutching the person next to you for comfort every time the fire crackled. The re-tellings are that good. Aaron Mannke narrates each episode with a chilling aplomb that’ll shake you to your core.

This is one of the podcasts we’d recommend starting from the beginning. That being said, you can definitely jump around the episodes. Our current favorite episode is episode 38, “The Mountain.” It’s a travel adventure that descends into sheer madness.

SIDEDOOR

The Smithsonian’s podcast, Sidedoor, is a glimpse into one of the biggest collections of historical artifacts in the world. Host Tony Cohn leads discussions with a long list of historians, scientists, archaeologists, artists, zookeepers, and even astrophysicists along a path of exploration of our shared past. Each episode is only 30 minutes, making this pod an easy binge.

We’d say start anywhere that feels interesting amongst the show’s 36 episodes. Though, we can’t help but love episode 20 — which covers the history of the world’s oldest winery. Maybe open a bottle of your favorite red before you give it a listen.

THE WAY I HEARD IT

Mike Rowe has made a long career as the champion of the working class in America. Rowe’s no-nonsense demeanor and inclusiveness translate perfectly to the podcast format. His show, The Way I Heard It, is short, historical storytelling boiled down to ten-minute episodes. They’re extremely easy to listen to, insightful, and often hilariously absurd.

With 95 episodes to chose from, it’s hard to pinpoint the perfect starting point. Since the episodes are rarely over ten minutes, you can easily sample a few over a lunch break. We’d say start with episode 93, “As Long As It’s Legal,” about a preacher who moonlights as a moonshiner.

REVISIONIST HISTORY

Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast, Revisionist History, does exactly what it says. Gladwell looks at various points in history and analyzes them from a personal perspective — that is, revising the narrative to fit into a real experience. What’s great about this podcast is that Gladwell casts a wide net. The series is never just about military history or economic history. It’s about food, travel, politics, pop culture, art, and everything in between.

There are currently two seasons to choose from. If you’re diving in for the first time, we still love Gladwell’s exploration of McDonald’s switching beef fat for vegetable oil in their friers, called “McDonald’s Broke My Heart.” It’s a hilarious and very educational look at the whole debacle.

BURNT TOAST

Kenzi Wilbur hosts Food 52’s podcast about the history of all things food related, Burnt Toast. While food history might sound like a bore, Wilbur picks amazingly cool topics that engage with comedy, pop culture, politics, and everyday life. Each episode is under 20 minutes long, making this one very digestible.

There are 70 episodes to chose from and you really can jump in anywhere in the archive. Though we wholeheartedly recommend starting with “The Worst Food in White House History” ep. It’s fun while be very informative about how (badly) most presidents ate.

PHILOSOPHIZE THIS!

The history of philosophy is crucial to understanding philosophy in general. Philosophize This! host Stephen West has created a podcast that outlines the entire history of eastern and western philosophy in one, easy to access place. Each episode clocks in at an easily binge-able 30 minutes and covers what would be a chapter in a classic philosophy textbook. Unlike a dry textbook, however, West is actually extremely engaging.

You really need to start with episode one here. You can jump around, but the show is set up to be listened to as a series that builds on itself.

OUR FAKE HISTORY

Our Fake History is an easy podcast to fall in love with. Host Sebastian Major’s show aims to uncover the “myths people think are history and history that might be hidden in myths.” Basically, Major is calling bullsh*t on what a lot of us taught as ‘true’ history and subsequently still believe while finding the real crumbs of historical fact in those stories. It’s engaging and eye-opening.

Each episode clocks in at around an hour and Major often takes three or four episodes to get through a subject. The subjects are incredibly varied — from Samauri swordsmen to Cleopatra to forgotten European wars. So start with any one that interests you.

THE REST OF THE STORY

This is a big outlier on this list. This podcast is actually a collection of old radio broadcasts from the Paul Harvey show, a Midwest touchstone of news broadcasting from the 1950’s to early 2000’s. Harvey would end his shows with a short storytelling commentary, called The Rest of the Story. If anything, this podcast serves as a fascinating snapshot of American history through the mic of a person that lived through big events and got to talk about them in real time.

Each episode is five minutes or less (most come in at three minutes), so these are easily listenable as a quick break from the churn of the day.

SLOW BURN: A PODCAST ABOUT WATERGATE

Leon Neyfakh’s Slow Burn is indeed a podcast about Watergate. It’s a complete historical document that plays out like a great true crime story. This is a definitive retelling and examination of the entire fiasco that ended up bringing down an American president.

There are eight episodes in the series and you really have to start at episode one and binge through each one in order.

REVOLUTIONS

Mike Duncan wowed the world with his comprehensive History of Rome podcast. He’s followed that success up with an equally engaging podcast about political revolutions aptly titled, Revolutions.

So far Duncan has recorded over 200 episodes. So there’s a lot to listen to and catch up on. This is another one that builds as you go. The series starts out in the early 1600s and hits on every political seismic shift in a nearly year-by-year basis. Start with episode one.

UNCIVIL

Journalists Jack Hitt and Chenjerai Kumanyika aren’t here to tell you the stories you want to hear about the American Civil War with Uncivil. No. They’re astute in breaking down the myths and outright lies and parsing what the American Civil War really was. Hitt and Kumanyika look at the historical record of how a divided country ended up at war and square that with today’s atmosphere of division.

The story of the Civil War isn’t told chronologically over the 13 episodes currently available. You can really jump in anywhere or start from the beginning. It’s up to you.

HISTORICAL BLINDNESS

Historical Blindness takes a unique tack while dealing with history. Host Nathaniel Lloyd dives into the mysterious aspects of history. It’s a peek behind the curtain of the stories and myths that have become part of our zeitgeist — stories that we often just take for granted. Lloyd breaks down the barriers of history and asks what is really going on in the more fantastic corners — from UFO battles over L.A. to crying Mother Mary’s in Spain to the Voynich Manuscript.

With 31 episodes to choose from, we’d say jump in anywhere.

HISTORIUM UNEARTHIA

Historium Unearthia aims to unearth unheard of and often forgotten history. Host Crystal Ponti retells the stories of dark history and lost history in each episode with excellent research anchored by deeply engaging storytelling.

With only 13 episodes so far, we’d say just start at the beginning and binge your way to the most recent episode. Likewise, you can start with episode 6, “Meet the Notorious, Yet Politically Significant, Black and Native American Outlaws Omitted from Old West History,” which dives into lost Black and Native American historical figures from America’s outlaw past.

THE WITNESS

The Witness from the BBC tells history through the voices of people who actually lived it. The podcast is a collection of short stories told by eye-witnesses or the subjects involved in big moments of history. Each episode is short and to the point, making this pod very easy to plow through at work.

There are 300 episodes that cover an incredibly wide range of subjects from all over the world. Our recommendation is to start with the most recent episode and jump around from there.

RIDICULOUS HISTORY

Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown put on a fun and entertaining show about the curious and, yes, ridiculous moments in history. Each episode of Ridiculous History is a ludicrous dive into something that makes Brown and Bowlin scratch their heads. The show is less about finding answers to the ridiculousness and more about exposing the craziness that’s lurking in our shared history.

With just over 50 episodes to choose from, you can really jump in anywhere that sounds interesting (hint, they’re all interesting). Our recommendation is to dive in the middle with ‘When the Puritans Cancelled Christmas.’ It’s a fun and baffling corner of history to start with.

HISTORY ON FIRE

Daniele Bolelli’s History on Fire is essential listening. Even if “history” isn’t your thing, Bolelli will draw you in with his vivid storytelling and insanely well-researched tales of historical moments.

So far there are only 33 episodes to choose from. We could easily listen to 330 if they were available. You can generally jump in anywhere that piques your interest. If pressed, we’d say start with episode 32, “Anything That Moves: The Parallel Stories of Sand Creek and My Lai.” It’s a harrowing account of US military massacres on the Great Plains and in Vietnam nearly 100 years apart. The series will leave you shaken to your core.

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