Talking History

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Talking History is a radio program and podcast created by KSMU Ozarks Public Radio in association with the Missouri State University Department of History. Each month, hosts Djene Bajalan and Patrick Needham speak with historians and scholars about the ideas, people, and events that have shaped our world. Talking History airs on KSMU 91.1 FM the first Thursday of each month at 12:06 pm CT.

  1. 2d ago

    For nearly a century, the Springfield Art Museum has brought fine art to the Ozarks

    The Springfield Art Museum was founded almost 100 years ago, and became a part of the city of Springfield in the late 1940s. In that century, the institution has grown form annual exhibitions of traveling art to a modern accredited art museum with a significant collection.  This month on Talking History, Patrick Needham is joined by Sarah Buhr, the Museum’s Curator and author of A History of the Springfield Art Museum to talk about the evolution of the institution, the value of art in public life, and what the study of art can teach us about the historical record.

  2. Aug 6

    A Christian History of Muslim Spain with Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

    On this episode of Talking History, Djene speaks with Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi about his new translation of Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada’s thirteenth-century Minor Histories. In the early thirteenth century, the Iberian Peninsula stood at a decisive historical turning point. Muslim political power was declining, Christian kingdoms were expanding, and the city of Toledo remained a meeting place of Christian, Jewish and Islamic cultures. At the center of these transformations stood Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada: archbishop of Toledo, royal adviser, crusader and one of medieval Spain’s most ambitious historians. Rodrigo sought to explain Spain’s past through the histories of the Romans, Goths, Vandals, Huns and Arabs. His History of the Arabs, in particular, offers a remarkable, and frequently contradictory, medieval Christian account of Arab history and Islam. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a British-Iraqi historian based in Syria and Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is the translator of Rodrigo Ximenez de Rada's Minor Histories.

  3. Jul 2

    The Myth of Red Texas with David Griscom

    In this episode of Talking History, Djene and Patrick talk to journalist David Griscom about his new book, The Myth of Red Texas. Texas is often seen as one of America’s most conservative states, a place where Republican politics, religion moralism, and rugged individualism, and seem almost baked into its identity. But has this always been the case? Djene and Patrick talk to journalist David Griscom about his new book, The Myth of Red Texas, which seeks to rediscover the history of Texas radicalism. David Griscom is a Texas based journalist and political commentor. He is the host of the podcast Left Reckoning and The Jacobin Show. You can follow his work on Substack. The Myth of Red Texas is published by OR books.

  4. Jun 4

    The Crisis Presidency with Benjamin Kleinerman

    Every four years, Americans witness one of the defining rituals of public life: the inauguration of a president.  In that moment, the president places a hand on the Bible and swears not merely to support the Constitution, but to “preserve, protect, and defend” it. That language is striking, and perhaps more revealing than we often realize. Why does the Constitution single out the president in this way? What does that oath tell us about the office itself? And does it help explain why Americans so often judge presidents by how they respond to crisis?  From George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and Covid, the presidency has often been shaped not simply by law or policy, but by the expectation that the president will preserve order when the nation feels under pressure. Dr. Benjamin Kleinerman is the R.W. Morrison Professor of Political Science at Baylor University and a visiting professor at UT Austin. He has written extensively on executive power, the presidency, and American political thought. He is also here in Springfield to deliver a talk titled “The Enduring Principles of the Declaration.” His forthcoming book, The Crisis Presidency (University of Kansas Press) explores the presidency, constitutional order, and the politics of crisis.

  5. May 7

    The history of queer activism, community and struggle in the Midwest with Stuart Hinds

    This month Djene and Patrick speak with Stuart Hinds, Curator of Special Collections and Archives at the Miller Nichols Library, about the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America. When people think about queer history in the United States, they often think first of places like New York or San Francisco. But the history of queer activism, community and struggle was never confined to the coasts. It was also made in places like Kansas City and Springfield, in local organizations, in political campaigns, in community spaces, and in the archives that preserve those lives and stories. Recovering that history helps us see that queer history is not some marginal side note to the American past. It is part of the history of citizenship, rights, community, and social change in the United States.  To learn more about this history, Djene and Patrick speak with Stuart Hinds, Curator of Special Collections and Archives at the Miller Nichols Library, about his work as the Curator of the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America (GLAMA). Stuart Hinds is Curator of Special Collections and Archives at the Miller Nichols Library at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. He also serves as Curator of the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America, a collecting initiative he co-founded in 2010 to preserve and make accessible the history of Kansas City’s LGBT communities. Stuart has spoken widely on topics related to queer history and archives, co-taught the first course on U.S. gay and lesbian history at UMKC, and is currently working on a book titled Cowtown Queers: A History of Gay and Lesbian Kansas City.

  6. Apr 2

    Missouri State archaeologists discover geoglyphs and possibly more in the Amazon jungle

    For generations rumors have swirled of lost civilizations in the Amazon. If you’re of a certain age, perhaps you grew up with Indiana Jones evading stone traps and poison darts in order to thieve away cultural riches from the jungle. Today, archaeologists thousands of miles away are utilizing emerging technological tool kits in order to analyze data in a way that gives them a much clearer understanding of what is going on under the canopy. Using such tools, two Missouri State archeologists have made significant discoveries in the Amazon Basin that could upend our understanding of the pre-contact history of that region. To talk about what they discovered, how they discovered it, and the possible implications, Patrick speaks with Dr. Daniel Pierce and Christopher Bodine, co-founders of the Terra Incognita Research institute, about their Geoglyph Observations through Jungle Imagery in Remote Amazonia – or GOJIRA – project. Daniel and Chris will give the Plenary Session on their Amazon work at the upcoming Missouri Academy of Science Annual Meeting on April 11, 2026 at Missouri State University.  More information about Terra Incognita’s research can be found at www.terraincognitaresearch.org. Daniel’s cool hat can be found at https://terra-incognita-research.printful.me/product/snapback-hat.

  7. Mar 5

    Bombing Hitler's Hometown with Mike Croissant

    On a cold April morning in 1945, nearly five thousand young American airmen climbed into B-17s and B-24s on dusty airfields in southern Italy. A few hours later, they were flying through a sky turned black with flak over Linz, Austria, Hitler’s adopted hometown, the city he dreamed of remaking into the cultural capital of his empire. For the men in those bombers, it was supposed to be one of the last missions of the war, maybe the last. None of them wanted to die with peace so close. But as they flew toward those sprawling rail yards along the Danube, they entered what one gunner later called “a man-made hell”, crippled aircraft tumbling from formation, parachutes blossoming over enemy territory, and, below, Austrian civilians running for shelter as the bombs fell. Some of those airmen ended up as POWs. Some were marched into the gates of Mauthausen. Others fell into Soviet hands and discovered that being “liberated” could also mean being beaten and interrogated as suspected spies. Many survived, but came home with memories they locked away for decades. To talk about this operation, Djene speaks with Mike Croissant, author of a new book on the topic, Bombing Hitler’s Hometown: The Untold Story of the Last Mass Bomber Raid of World War II in Europe, published in 2024 by Citadel Press. Mike Croissant is a retired CIA officer who served for more than 20 years as an analyst and counterterrorism targeting officer in locations ranging from Washington, DC, to the Middle East and Central and South Asia. Upon retirement, he received the CIA’s Career Commendation Medal for meritorious service. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and graduate degrees from Indiana University and Missouri State University.

  8. Feb 5

    Sci-Fi, Satire, and the Post-WWII Mythos with the Feral Historian

    Djene and Patrick speak with video essayist Matt Pearson, aka the “Feral Historian,” about his essay “Sci-Fi, Satire, and the Post-WWII Mythos .” The compelling videos made by this “rogue scholar” are about 20th century history viewed through the context of science fiction. Djene and Patrick talk to Mr. Pearson about a recent entry that explores the relationship between popular portrayals of movie bad guys, historical fascist movements, and current political currents. What are the dangers in turning real and complex political systems into two-dimensional caricatures? Have the lessons of these historical regimes become lost to a cartoonish visual shorthand? A Detroit native, Pearson spent several years working as a draftsman before pursuing a degree in history. He then taught high school in the city for a few years before entering a PhD program where his research focused on late WWII and the early Cold War period. He subsequently dropped out, moved out West, and now analyzes the cultural perception of history through the lens of science fiction while wandering the Black Hills. His work can be found on YouTube, viewer discretion advised.

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About

Talking History is a radio program and podcast created by KSMU Ozarks Public Radio in association with the Missouri State University Department of History. Each month, hosts Djene Bajalan and Patrick Needham speak with historians and scholars about the ideas, people, and events that have shaped our world. Talking History airs on KSMU 91.1 FM the first Thursday of each month at 12:06 pm CT.

Information

  • Creator
    KSMU Radio
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    40
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © KSMU Radio
  • Show Website
    Talking History

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