Military Historians are People, Too!

Brian K. Feltman and Bill Allison
  • 4.6 (27)
  • History

Join military history professors Brian Feltman and Bill Allison as they chat with fellow military historians, public historians, scholars of war and society, and other exciting people about military history, career paths, BBQ, and life in general on Military Historians are People, Too! Thanks for listening!

  1. 3d ago

    From the Vault: S3E21 Evan Wilson - US Naval War College

    Our guest today is Napoleonic Era naval historian Evan Wilson! Evan is an associate professor in the John B. Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, where he also co-directs the Graduate Certificate in Maritime History. He was previously the Associate Director of International Security Studies at Yale University and a Caird Senior Research Fellow at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut. He earned a BA in History at Yale University, an MPhil in Modern European History from Cambridge, and a PhD in History from the University of Oxford. Evan is the author of The Horrible Peace: British Veterans and the End of the Napoleonic Wars (University of Massachusetts Press - use promo code MAS073!) and A Social History of British Naval Officers, 1775–1815 (The Boydell Press). He is also the co-editor of numerous volumes, including Navies in Multipolar Worlds: From the Age of Sail to the Present (Routledge) with Paul Kennedy, Eighteenth-Century Naval Officers: A Transnational Perspective (Palgrave), with Jakob Seerup and AnnaSara Hammar, and Strategy and the Sea: Essays in Honour of John B. Hattendorf (The Boydell Press) with N.A.M. Rodger, J. Ross Dancy, and Benjamin Darnell. His articles have appeared in The Mariner’s Mirror, the Journal of Military History, the English Historical Review, and the Journal for Maritime Research, among others. In 2018, Evan was awarded the Sir Julian Corbett Prize in Modern Naval History by the Institute of Historical Research. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and sits on the Editorial Board of the University of Massachusetts Press's monograph series Veterans. Finally, we're showing some more love for naval history and the Napoleonic Era! Join us for a very interesting chat with Evan - we'll talk Partick O'Brian novels, veterans of the Napoleonic wars, teaching at a prep school then at a senior-level professional military education institution, Radiohead, and other topics, all while Bill and Brian can't seem to get their Rapid Fire questions straight! Shoutout to Ralph's BBQ in Weldon, North Carolina, located just off I-95 at exit 173! Rec. 05/16/2023

    From the Vault: S3E21 Evan Wilson - US Naval War College

  2. 5d ago

    S7E8 Justin F. Jackson - University of Massachusetts, Amherst

    Our guest today is scholar of the military, labor, and American imperialism, Justin F. Jackson. Now a Lecturer and Visiting Scholar in the Department of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Justin was a tenured Associate Professor of History at Bard College at Simon’s Rock when the institution sadly closed in June 2025. He began his career as an Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow in Global History with New York University’s John W. Draper Interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Humanities and Social Thought. A native of beautiful Jefferson, Maine, Justin received his BA from Hampshire College, an MA in History from UMASS Amherst, and his PhD from Columbia University. Justin’s first book, The Work of Empire: War, Occupation, and the Making of American Colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines, was published by UNC Press. His articles have appeared in The Journal of American History, Labor: Studies in Working Class History of the Americas, and the Journal of Historical Sociology. Justin has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University's Weatherhead Initiative in Global History, the Center for Advanced Study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Third World Studies Center at the University of the Philippines–Diliman, Quezon City. Justin’s current book project is titled Occupying America: War, Politics, and Military Government’s Rise and Fall in the United States and a Globalizing World. Join us for a fun, uplifting chat with Justin Jackson; we'll talk about being an identical twin, Boston, watching Gettysburg as a kid, Big Papi, military labor, the Dead Kennedys, and more. He's experienced firsthand the trend of small college closures, but his positivity and passion for history are unwavering. You'll enjoy this one. Rec.: 10/22/2026

  3. Oct 22

    From the Vault: S3E20 James Holland - Author and Historian, UK

    What a treat today! Our guest is Second World War historian and author James Holland. James is a prolific author of both fiction and non-fiction, a media personality, and an occasional battlefield tour guide. James earned a BA in History at St. Chad’s College, Durham, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Research Fellow at Swansea University. He has authored fourteen books on the Second World War, including Brothers in Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day (Bantam Press) and Normandy '44: D-Day and the Battle for France (Bantam Press), which was a Military History Matters Book of the Year in 2020. James' first history book was Fortress Malta: An Island Under Siege 1940–43 (Orion). Additionally, he has written books on the Second World War and Burma, the Battle of Britain, the Dam Busters, North Africa, and the Sicily/Italy campaigns. His forthcoming book is The Savage Storm: The Brutal Battle for Italy, 1943 (Atlantic Monthly Press). Additionally, he has written eight books on the Second World War for children and nine novels, many of which are part of the popular Jack Tanner series. He is co-founder and program director of the Chalke Valley History Festival and he has his own collection at the Imperial War Museum. He also worked with the National Army Museum to develop an exhibit based on Brothers in Arms. James has presented and written programs for the BBC, National Geographic, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, and the PBS documentary series Pritzker Military Presents. A few of the documentaries James has been part of were short-listed for BAFTAs! He is the co-host with Al Murray of the incredibly popular ⁠We Have Ways of Making You Talk⁠ podcast (600 episodes strong!), which if you have any interest in the Second World War you should check out. James is dedicated to bringing the history of the Second World War to as wide an audience as possible. We'll talk about doing the work of a historian, the process of writing, "Chik Lit," Ian Botham, podcasting, the Italian Campaign, the Beatles . . . What didn't we talk about? Join us for a wonderful chat with the energetic and prolific James Holland! Shoutout to the Horseshoe Inn in Ebbesbourne Wake, Wiltshire! Subscribe to Military Historians are People, Too! and all of your favorite podcasts, and check out our Shameless Swag Store on Zazzle! Rec.: 05/22/2023

    From the Vault: S3E20 James Holland - Author and Historian, UK

  4. Oct 20

    S7E7 Megan Hamilton - UNSW Canberra at ADFA

    From Down Under, it's Megan Hamilton, newly arrived from King's College, London, now at the University of New South Wales! Megan is a brand new lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy. She earned her PhD in Military History from the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London. Her dissertation research explored the development of training methods in the British Army throughout the British Empire during the Second World War. She also holds an MA in History from the University of Waterloo and a BA in History from Wilfrid Laurier University. Megan's research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). She completed professional development programs at the Imperial War Museum and the Australian War Memorial. Her article titled “The Vernon Military Camp and the Imperial Training Archipelago 1939-1945” appeared in Canadian Military History in 2024. Finally, Megan is a regional director for the Second World War Research Group. At the UCD/RMC conference in Dublin, Friend-of-the-Pod Gary Sheffield said "You've got to have Megan on your podcast!" Who are we to argue with Gary? We're glad we took the suggestion. She's come a long way from being on the Canadian National Rhythmic Gymnastics Team to being a newly minted PhD in military history now in Australia! Join us for what was for Megan a very late night chat - we'll talk small-town British Columbia, not doing so well in an accountancy course, the importance of mentors, working in archives all over the world, poutine, and even curling! We enjoyed meeting Megan in Dublin and we were happy to get up early in the morning to chat with her for this fun episode. Enjoy! Rec.: 10/15/2026

  5. Oct 17

    Listener Highlight - Steve Cook, University of Wolverhampton

    We're starting a new "occasional" segment - Listener Highlight! For our first, we're chatting with Steve Cook in Peterborough, UK. Steve has a career in the travel industry but has always been, in his words, a "history nerd." At university, he spent a semester abroad at Ripon College in Wisconsin, taking a keen interest in American history. He's now pursuing an MA in history at Wolverhampton, looking at German POWs held in the camps near his home in Peterborough during World War II. Steve came to Military Historians are People, Too, via We Have Ways and History Rage, and we are most grateful for his support, for sharing on socials, and for his positive comments. We'll talk about becoming a Cheesehead, cathedral towns, the community that can come from listening to history podcasts, attending We Have Ways Fest, the off chance of picking up a Wolverhampton history program pamphlet, Oasis, and more. And if you are an avid listener, get in touch! Rec.: 10/08/2026

  6. Oct 15

    From the Vault: S3E19 James Kimble - Seton Hall University

    Our guest today is James J. Kimble. Jim is Professor of Communication & the Arts at Seton Hall University and is a scholar of war rhetoric and propaganda. From 1997-2005, he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Communication at George Mason University, where he was the Director of Forensics and Speech. He completed his BSEd in Communication & Political Science at the University of Nebraska and an MA, in Rhetoric & Communication at Kansas State University enroute to a PhD in Rhetoric & Political Culture at the University of Maryland, College Park. Jim is the author of two books, Mobilizing the Home Front: War Bonds and Domestic Propaganda (Texas A&M University Press) and Prairie Forge: The Extraordinary Story of the Nebraska Scrap Metal Drive of World War II (University of Nebraska). The latter won the Nonfiction Book of the Year Award from the Nebraska Center for the Book. He has co-edited two books, Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms (Abbeville Press) with Stephanie Plunkett, and The 10¢ war: Comic Books, Propaganda, and World War II, with Trischa Goodnow. Jim has also written three documentaries for the Norman Rockwell Museum, and Produced/Directed/Written another, titled Scrappers: How the Heartland Won World War II (with T.R. Rondinella). He has authored more than two dozen articles and chapters, and he is the founding editor of the journal Home Front Studies. Finally, Jim served as a guest curator for the Norman Rockwell Museum international traveling exhibition. Jim is a Senior Fellow at the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, a Fulbright Scholar, and the recipient of the National Communication Association’s Karl R. Wallace Memorial Award. His research has reached academic and popular audiences. Jim's work on the identity of Rosie the Riveter appeared in People magazine, the New York Times, and on the television show Mysteries at the Museum, ultimately hitting over 1.3 billion media hits worldwide. Join us for a fun and very interesting chat with Jim Kimble. We'll talk Rosie the Riveter, war propaganda art, starting an academic journal, Mrs. Maisel, and the Alan Parson's Project! Shoutout to Taco John's! Please subscribe to this and all of your favorite podcasts, and visit our Swag Store on Zazzle! Rec.: 05/22/2023

    From the Vault: S3E19 James Kimble - Seton Hall University

  7. Oct 13

    S7E6 Richard Condon - National Park Service

    Our guest today is National Park Ranger Richard P. Condon. Rich is a Park Ranger and Volunteer Coordinator at the National Park Service’s Catoctin Mountain Park in Thurmont, Maryland, and previously served as a park ranger at Reconstruction Era National Historical Park in Beaufort, South Carolina, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, but he got the public history bug working one summer for the Franklin Battlefield Trust. A former Nashville session player (bass!), Rich earned his BA in Public History and Historic Preservation from Shepherd University and is currently completing an MA in 19th-century American History at Gettysburg College, where he actually lives within the Gettysburg National Military Park boundary. Rich is a co-founder and contributor to the online platforms Pennsylvania in the Civil War and Civil War Pittsburgh, as well as the American Battlefield Trust, Civil War Times, and the publication National Park Service. He is an award-winning historical interpreter and a frequent invited speaker at Civil War Roundtables and similar forums. Join us for another delightful chat - Rich tells us about Pittsburgh, visiting Gettysburg as a kid, Fred Rogers, Huffy bikes, angry folk bands, the trajectory of public history, dealing with know-it-all park visitors, living on a Civil War battlefield, and what to order at Primanti Brothers. Enjoy! Shoutout to Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh! Rec.: 10/06/2026

  8. Oct 10

    S7 Special - Our Student Intern Caitlin Conroy!

    We wanted to introduce our FIRST EVER student intern - the pride of Warrington, Cheshire, UK - Caitlin Conroy! Caitlin is a history major at Georgia Southern University and a standout starting midfielder and defender for the Georgia Southern University Eagles Women's Soccer Team! "Ringo," as she is known to some of us because of her soccer days in Liverpool, is helping us with background on guests and learning the ropes of recording and editing, though she's already had good experience doing a podcast in Bill's Podcasting History course last Spring (you can listen to her episode of Get After Those Archives, the Georgia Southern University history student-produced podcast that Bill's class created!). We'll talk about coming to the States, and more specifically to Statesboro, from the UK, being interested in history as a kid, living in America, and surprising her with our knowledge of Gulliver's World Theme Park. We're glad to have Caitlin on the MHPTPodcast team! Shoutout to Caitlin's mom in Warrington! Rec.: 09/29/2026

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About

Join military history professors Brian Feltman and Bill Allison as they chat with fellow military historians, public historians, scholars of war and society, and other exciting people about military history, career paths, BBQ, and life in general on Military Historians are People, Too! Thanks for listening!

Information

  • Creator
    Brian K. Feltman and Bill Allison
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    159
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Brian K. Feltman and Bill Allison
  • Show Website
    Military Historians are People, Too!

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