It took me a really long time to get into podcasts. I would opt to read and listen to music during my commute, but now that my “commute” is taking a walk, I was looking for entertainment I could just listen to. In my post about favorite social distancing activities, I highlighted a few podcasts. Now that I am listening to even more, I wanted to share my favorite history shows!
HISTORY This Week
HISTORY This Week remains a favorite. The episodes are not too long (usually no more than a half hour) and give you the perfect taste of an event from history that week and its significance.
Hope, Through History
This is another podcast from the history channel. They started this special series during quarantine to discuss challenging events we’ve overcome before and to provide hope that we will persevere again. Topics from the great depression, to WWII, to the 1918 influenza pandemic are covered. This show is also around a half hour for each episode, so it makes for a great walk companion.
Revisionist History
This is a classic by Malcolm Gladwell. I’d listened to episodes before with Joe who has been a long time fan, and now I’m going through the archives myself. The newest season started last month and they did a roundup of the best episodes leading up to it, so it’s a great time to start following. I especially loved Dragon Psychology 101 because it’s all about the art world and talks specifically about my friends at the Met.
The Bowery Boys: New York City History
This is my FAVORITE! I was so excited to discover this podcast (that has been around for 13 years!) and have access to all of their back episodes. Like, why am I not being charged for this entertainment?! These episodes are about an hour long, so I reserve them mostly for my weekend walks and cleaning sessions. There are so many great episodes and some of my favorites so far include The Straw Hat Riots of 1922, Andrew Carnegie and New York’s Public Libraries, and Chop Suey City: A History of Chinese Food in New York.
Honorable Mention: Thick and Thin
I’m listing this as “honorable mention” because the host does not always discuss history. In some episodes she ties her lifestyle topic back to a historical event and it’s great when she does! However, you aren’t going to get that every episode.
I mentioned in my last post about podcasts that I was trying out Stuff You Missed in History Class – I couldn’t get into it. Next on my list to try is The Last Archive, so we’ll see how that goes.
Any podcasts you’d recommend for a history lover?
-Alyssa J
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