Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong

Samuel Biagetti, PhD
  • 4.7 (128)
  • HISTORY
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

So much of what we learn in a standard history class, and in the culture around us, are just cliff-note narratives, crafted to explain how things appear, rather than how things actually came to be. Peel back the layers of time and place with this thoroughly researched, college-level history podcast with over 200 episodes that uncover the forgotten forces that shaped – and that are still shaping – our world today. There are no commercials in this long-form podcast. More information can be found at Historiansplaining.com, where you can hear Quick Samples of every episode, easily find related episodes based on topic, discover episodes by geographic location on a map of the world or on a timeline of world history, and much more. There’s so much to explore with Samuel Biagetti, PhD, in these conversational lectures and interviews, each one presenting hidden landscapes from the past that put the moments and movements of today’s world in a tangible, thought-provoking light. Press play for the joy of a great college-level course in history, without any of the homework! Unlock the most content by becoming a supporter through Patreon. You choose the amount you want to contribute, and your support helps keep the podcast commercial free! Visit patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Support through Patreon from listeners like you is the only source of ongoing funding for this podcast.

  1. History of the United States in 100 Objects -- 25: "Wilkes And Liberty" Cufflink Jewel, 1760s

    5D AGO

    History of the United States in 100 Objects -- 25: "Wilkes And Liberty" Cufflink Jewel, 1760s

    The riots, protests, and boycotts that broke out in North America in the wake of the Stamp Act were only one part of the mass crisis that beset Great Britain in the 1760s, as the discontented poor and middle classes rallied behind the ideals of liberty and freedom of speech, and around “radical Whig” politicians who challenged the power of the Crown and the London oligarchy – none more so than the infamous provocateur, satirist, and “rake,” John Wilkes, who ignited popular passions in London and the colonies and nearly burned down the ruling Whig establishment. We examine a key specimen of a tiny glass cufflink jewel inscribed with the incendiary slogan, “Wilkes and Liberty,” which was rececntly discovered in an abandoned town in North Carolina, and which has touched off a wave of similar discoveries, revealing the importance of small, almost unnoticeable objects in the spread of discontent and radical rhetoric across the Atlantic in the years before the American Revolution. Special thank you to: Charles Ewen, East Carolina University; Jim McKee, Brunswick Town / Fort Anderson State Historic Site; Addison Siemon Please sign on as a patron, including to hear the previous installment of "History of the United States in 100 Objects" -- https://www.patreon.com/c/u5530632 My lecture on the Interregnum & Restoration, including the origins of the Whig party: https://www.patreon.com/posts/england-and-1650-42722389 My lecture on the Glorious Revolution and the beginning of the Whig ascendancy: https://www.patreon.com/posts/james-ii-and-88-73953596

    1h 29m
  2. New Mexico: From Prehistory to the Pueblo Revolt

    JAN 31

    New Mexico: From Prehistory to the Pueblo Revolt

    We examine the origins of the first European colony in America north of Florida – New Mexico – from the rise of the Pueblo civilization, which mastered irrigation and “made the desert bloom,” building monumental complexes in arid plains and rocky canyons, through the repeated Spanish incursions in search of seven cities of gold and the construction of a tenuous European colony riven by struggles between church and state, and finally to the eruption of the largest and most coordinated Native uprising in colonial history, which expelled Europeans from New Mexico and ushered in a temporary restoration of the ancient Puebloan world. Image: Mission church of S. Esteban del Rey, 1629, at Acoma Pueblo Suggested further reading: Sanchez, Spude, & Gomez, “New Mexico: A History”; Gutierrez, “When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away”; Brooks, “Captives and Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in the Southwest Borderlands”; Rodriguez, “Review: Subaltern Historiography on the Rio Grande,” American Ethnologist vol. 21, No. 4 (Nov., 1994) My earlier lecture series on the history of Florida (first European colony north of the Rio Grande), “Fortresses on Sand: The History of Florida”: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/sets/fortresses-on-sand-the-history Please sign on as a patron at any level to hear the patron-only lectures, including my most recent on Central Africa: https://www.patreon.com/c/u5530632

    1h 35m
  3. Unlocked -- The Impossible City: The History of Venice -- pt. 3: Metropolis or Museum?

    JAN 29

    Unlocked -- The Impossible City: The History of Venice -- pt. 3: Metropolis or Museum?

    Unlocked after 1 year for patrons only: We trace the struggles of Venice, through conquest, revolution, and depression, to fashion a place for itself in the modern world, to channe We trace the struggles of Venice, through conquest, revolution, and depression, to fashion a place for itself in the modern world, to channel or keep at bay the new floods -- of rising seas, of diseased canals, and of tourist hordes -- and most of all, to somehow square the circle of preservation and modernity. Image: The Palazzo dei Camerlenghi & Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal in the flood of Nov. 4, 1966 Intro music: Giuseppe Verdi, La Traviata, overture Closing music: Giuseppe Verdi, La Traviata, brindisi / drinking song

    1h 18m
  4. Excerpt: The Great Archaeological Discoveries -- Pt. 10: Çatalhöyük

    JAN 14

    Excerpt: The Great Archaeological Discoveries -- Pt. 10: Çatalhöyük

    On Patreon for patrons only for 1 year: It is the only large town that has ever been discovered from the Stone Age, making it one of the most important archaeological finds of all time and a critical prize in the heated debates that have divided the field of archaeology. Its striking artworks have fired the imagination, and its extensive ruins, copious burials, and rich grave goods have filled in massive gaps in the story of the origins of civilization, illustrating how the invention of agriculture and the “Neolithic Revolution” made cities and urban life possible. Yet it also remains a stubborn mystery: why are the houses all so identical? Why are there no public buildings or gathering places, or even streets? And why did the town spring up in the middle of a muddy and malarial plain? Please sign up on Patreon to hear the whole lecture! -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/doorways-in-time-148211879 Suggested Further Reading: Mellaart, “Catal Huyuk: A Neolithic Town in Anatolia”; Balter, “The Goddess and the Bull”; Newitz, “Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age”; Ian Hodder, “Becoming a Çatalhöyük Person: An Integration of the Evidence,” lecture, Image: The “Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük,” discovered in 1961 Music: Rameau, "Les Cyclopes", performed by Paul Barton for Feurich

    7 min
  5. Excerpt: Crucible of the Continent: Central Africa before 1700

    12/23/2025

    Excerpt: Crucible of the Continent: Central Africa before 1700

    Excerpt of a lecture for patrons only for 1 year: We explore the tumultuous history of Central Africa, embracing the enormous Congo rainforest, the great rift valleys, the Indian Ocean coast, and the gold fields of the Zambezi basin, as formidable kingdoms—Kongo, the Swahili cities, and the mysterious Great Zimbabwe—emerged in the tropical landscape, adapted to the traumatic incursion of the Portuguese, and eventually struck back against European power, through diplomatic schemes, military struggles, and religious awakenings. This same region of the world produced some of the most remarkable and towering figures in African or world history, such as King Afonso I and Queen Nzingha, as well as many of the first captives to be taken to the New World, including the “twenty-and-odd negroes” that were famously landed at Point Comfort, Virginia, in 1619. Please sign on as a patron of historiansplaining in order to heat the full lecture: https://www.patreon.com/c/u5530632 Image: Bronze crucifix, Kongo, 1650-1750, High Museum of Art Suggested further reading: Van Reybrouck, “Congo: The Epic History of a People”; Edgerton, “The Troubled Heart of Africa: a History of the Congo”; Wills, “An Introduction to the History of Central Africa”; Heywood, “Njinga of Angola : Africa's Warrior Queen” Samuel, “The kingdom of Ndongo and the Portuguese,” ; Thornton, “The Kongolese Saint Anthony: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684–1706”

    5 min
  6. Cities of Iron & Gold: West Africa Before 1700

    11/23/2025

    Cities of Iron & Gold: West Africa Before 1700

    We follow the rise of civilization and of powerful empires in West Africa before the slave tade, based upon iron-working and the traffic in gold and salt across the Sahara, followed by the spread of wealth and power southward, towards the gold fields and the tropical forests, and finally the reverberating impacts of the arrival of Portuguese traders on the coast, which paved the way for the rise of the Atlantic slave trade. Suggested further reading: Rodney, “History of the Upper Guinea Coast”; Ajayi, ed., “History of West Africa,” vol. 1 Image: Sculptural head from Ife, bronze & brass, ca. 1300s Please sign on as a patron to hear patron-only lectures, including upcoming installment on Central AFrica: https://www.patreon.com/c/u5530632

    2h 15m
  7. Halloween Reading & Thank you to Patrons

    10/31/2025

    Halloween Reading & Thank you to Patrons

    We read ghost-related poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Lola Haskins, & Stanley Plumly, as a thank-you to patrons and a meditation on the field of history. Please sign on as a patron in order to hear patron-only lectures, and to vote in the current poll on the next archaeological discovery for the series, "Doorways in Time": https://www.patreon.com/posts/announcement-in-142272603 Most of my recent apperance on the Katie Halper show can be seen on youtube, beginning about here: https://youtu.be/aScGDE4CuHk?t=4398 Image: photograph from photobook, "Epitaph," by Brendon Burton

    13 min
  8. "I Do Not Need a Lecture from You About Idealism" -- The Political Ideology of RWRB

    10/26/2025

    "I Do Not Need a Lecture from You About Idealism" -- The Political Ideology of RWRB

    Audio track from the new video, "Red, White & Royal Blue: A Historian's Analysis -- pt. 4: The Political Ideology of RWRB"-- Intro: Why the Politics of RWRB? – 0:00:30 Sec. 1: Idealism vs. Realism – 0:16:21 Sec. 2: The Hidden Agenda – what is left out of RWRB – 0:52:29 Sec. 3: The Trade Wars – 1:28:25 Sec. 4: The Elusive Democratic Majority – 1:40:09 Conclusions: Power & Pride – 1:47:45 We examine Red, White & Royal Blue as a window into the ideology of the Democratic Party and the liberal middle class in the early 21st Century, including its attraction to free trade, the Sun Belt, and particularly Texas, as symbols of the so-called “Emerging Democratic Majority” that would supposedly rule the rest of the century. We question the film’s basic opposition between idealism and realism and all of the implicit value judgments that it carries, and finally consider how the film excludes or avoids discussion of class and material issues, through a comparison with the 2014 British film “Pride.” View this video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPEb9Zxx9eE Please become a patron of historiansplaining in order to hear patron-only lectures -- / u5530632 -- and the see this video in its entirety without ads! -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/1420325...

    2h 2m
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4.7
out of 5
128 Ratings

About

So much of what we learn in a standard history class, and in the culture around us, are just cliff-note narratives, crafted to explain how things appear, rather than how things actually came to be. Peel back the layers of time and place with this thoroughly researched, college-level history podcast with over 200 episodes that uncover the forgotten forces that shaped – and that are still shaping – our world today. There are no commercials in this long-form podcast. More information can be found at Historiansplaining.com, where you can hear Quick Samples of every episode, easily find related episodes based on topic, discover episodes by geographic location on a map of the world or on a timeline of world history, and much more. There’s so much to explore with Samuel Biagetti, PhD, in these conversational lectures and interviews, each one presenting hidden landscapes from the past that put the moments and movements of today’s world in a tangible, thought-provoking light. Press play for the joy of a great college-level course in history, without any of the homework! Unlock the most content by becoming a supporter through Patreon. You choose the amount you want to contribute, and your support helps keep the podcast commercial free! Visit patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Support through Patreon from listeners like you is the only source of ongoing funding for this podcast.

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