Past Guests

​Season 2

Well, this is it. Drinking with Historians has come to the end of its road. But we make the best of it with 2 great guests, (pictured here) Spencer Ackerman (The Daily Beast). We talk about the endless War on Terror, what Obama did (and didn't) do, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and much much more. Join us for a drink and great conversation this one last time. Cheers!

Well, this is it. Drinking with Historians has come to the end of its road. But we make the best of it with 2 great guests, (pictured here) Prof. Samuel Moyn (Yale). We talk about the endless War on Terror, what Obama did (and didn't) do, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and much much more. Join us for a drink and great conversation this one last time. Cheers!

Prof. Richard Steigman-Gall (Kent State) - we talk religion and Nazi Germany, the ideology of transatlantic fascism, and modern antisemitism. Richard's first book, THE HOLY REICH, examines Nazis who believed in "positive Christianity" and their struggles with Nazism's neo-pagans for religious dominance in the Third Reich.

Adam Harris (The Atlantic) - we talk higher education policy and inequality, including his brand-new book called THE STATE MUST PROVIDE. We learn a lot about the how the history of US higher ed is wound up in larger issues of racial politics, since the very beginning. Plus good Irish Whiskey.

Prof. Cord Whitaker (Wellesley) - we talk THE GREEN KNIGHT (starring Dev Patel), an adaptation of the medieval poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." In addition to the film, we discuss the medieval development of race, POC in the medieval era, and misuse of the medieval by white supremacists.

Dr. Megan Kate Nelson (@megankatenelson) to the show to talk about her Pulitzer Prize finalist book THE THREE-CORNERED WAR, the importance of native history, the US Civil War, writing for popular vs. academic audiences, and delicious cocktails. Hot damn in a barrel!

Tracie Franklin (Uncle Nearest) is back on the show! This time she's also joined by author and podcaster Mallory O'Meara (Reading Glasses), whose new book GIRLY DRINKS will be out in October. We talk about all things whiskey with particular attention to the role of women in the history of spirits and consumption - so we talk bootlegging, distilling, cocktails, and all sorts of other things.

Tracie Franklin (Uncle Nearest) is back on the show! This time she's also joined by author and podcaster Mallory O'Meara (Reading Glasses), whose new book GIRLY DRINKS will be out in October. We talk about all things whiskey with particular attention to the role of women in the history of spirits and consumption - so we talk bootlegging, distilling, cocktails, and all sorts of other things.

Prof. Greg Brew (SMU) - we talk about the history of Iran and US foreign policy. You guessed it: we mention OIL! Also, we talk about the Middle East generally, Irish Whiskey, and all sorts of other stuff.

Sohini Sarah Pillai (UC-Berkeley & Kalamazoo College) and Nell Shapior Hawley (UChicago & Harvard) - we talk about their book "Many Mahābhāratas," about the stories that make up this amazing text/ set of texts, about what those stories tell us, and why it all matters. Plus a cute dog and a good dog story!

Prof. Stephanie Jones-Rogers (UC-Berkeley) - we talk about her multiple award-winning book THEY WERE HER PROPERTY. In addition, we talk about how US history is being taught, a bit about the "1619 Project," how projects sometimes happen almost by accident, and all sorts of other stuff.

Dr. Yakov Feygin (Berggruen Institute) - we talk economics, the history of capitalism, the Soviet Union, the American Dream, and more. Plus, dams (of course).

Prof. Kameliya Atanasova (Washington & Lee) - we talk about (Islamic mysticism) in the early modern Ottoman Empire and its role in Islamic intellectual history. Plus cats and tea and Varsha's ever-expanding whiskey collection.

Prof. Bathsheba Demuth (Brown) - we talk about her mulit-award-winning book, The Floating Coast, the Yukon, the Bering Strait, indigenous culture, and how cool bowhead whales are.

Prof. Amy Stanley (Northwestern) we cover all things Japan. We talk about her intellectual journey to the topic, samurai, women (her new book, Stranger in the Shogun's City), and the sources that make up social history.

Prof. Peter Shulman (Case Western Reserve) - we talk about his book Coal and Empire addressing the long history of coal and how American empire spurred resource extraction, and not the other way around. Plus we hear about his new projects, how he keeps getting pulled further into the past, and why cocktails need appropriate garnishes.

In this ROGUE EPISODE, we invite an esteemed panel of scholars to the show in order to talk about... nothing related to their research. We go round-robin with Eric Rauchway (UC-Davis), Annabel LaBrecque (UC-Berkeley), Eleanor Janega (LSE), and John Wyatt Greenlee (Cornell). They have to talk for a few minutes each about a random topic, literally pulled from Matt's Union Cavalry Officer hat!

Prof. Roxanne Panchasi (Simon Fraser) - we talk histories of the future, environmental history, reckoning with empire, stumbling into a research specialty, and how every historian has a story about doing research in a French archive. Roxanne's current book project focuses on the cultural politics of French nuclear weapons and testing in the Algerian Sahara.

Dr. Nils Gilman (Berggruen Institute) - we talk Modernization Theory & how this idea has shaped & continues to shape American policy both at home and abroad, a weird interview with Walt Whitman Rostow, & how getting a PhD can (somehow!) have a happy ending.

Prof. Roland Betancourt (Univ. of California - Irvine) - we talk The Byzantine empire, race, sex in the pre-modern world.

Prof. Camilla Townsend (Rutgers), author of "The Fifth Sun" - we talk all things Aztec, from art to native sources, the Spanish conquest to how Mel Gibson is crap, & the realities of human sacrifice

Prof. Kathleen Belew (Univ. Chicago), author of "Bring the War Home" - we talk right-wing paramilitary violence in the US after the Vietnam War, militias, & the Jan 6 Insurrection

Tracie Franklin (Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative) returns! We talk whiskey styles & how the history of this whiskey is entangled in histories of colonialism, slavery, tax policy, etc.

Prof. Carlos Noreña (UC-Berkeley) - we talk ideas of empire, the Atlantic "frontier," how & why to do comparative history, Black & Tans, & vigorous hand gestures.

Dr. Sara Georgini (Massachusetts Historical Society) - we talk about John Adams, the Presidency and transitions, & how women existed ca. 1800.

---

​Season 1

Steve Bashore (Miller & Historian, Mount Vernon) - we talk the history of distilling in the American colonies and the role of enslaved Americans in creating the spirits we enjoy today.

Tracie Franklin (Uncle Nearest) - we talk whiskey vs. rum, the role of trade, & the history of Nearest Green (and Jack Daniels).

Prof. Jordan Smith (Widener) - we talk the history of distilling in the American colonies and the role of enslaved Americans in creating the spirits we enjoy today.

Dana Schwartz (novelist, screenwriter, & podcaster of "Noble Blood" - @DanaSchwartzzz) - we talk the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, the attraction to royals, & how being a royal sucks.

Prof. Eric Rauchway (UC-Davis) - we talk about a far-right disaster of a president who was a sore loser and a tricky transition to a reform-minded progressive. That's right, Hoover and FDR!

Prof. Manisha Sinha (UConn) - we talk Civil War & the subversion of Reconstruction, the oversized myth of Abraham Lincoln, & how the American West (esp. Native Americans) are left out of the conversation.

Benjamin Railton (Fitchburg State) - we talk critical patriotism, Mel Gibson, reclaiming patriotism for the Left, the dangers of nationalism, and the brilliance of John Sayles.

Ian Millhiser (Senior Correspondent, Vox.com - @imillhiser) - we talk Supreme Court, what the Founders "wanted" vs. what they got, & the future of our constitutional system.

Dr. L.D. Burnett (@ldburnett) culture - we talk culture & history education in the USA. Simple histories are selling something; it's always more complicated.

Prof. Julian Chambliss (Michigan State - @julianchambliss) - we talk imagined geographies and the history of comic books.

Prof. Anthea Butler (UPenn) - we talk solidarity, how you can help, what this all is, and most importantly next steps re: www.scholarstrike.com.

Kevin Gannon (Grand View) - we talk solidarity, how you can help, what this all is, and most importantly next steps re: www.scholarstrike.com.

Dr. Sarah E. Bond (Univ. of Iowa) - we talk disreputable professions in Rome, such as undertakers and bakers (cupcakes were "sensual") & reminisce about Italian apertivos with delicious spirits.

Journalist Sarah Posner (@sarahposner) - we talk white evangelicals & their support for Trump, issues of masculinity, militarism, & the alt right (white nationalists).

Prof. Kristin Du Mez (Calvin College) - we talk white evangelicals & their support for Trump, issues of masculinity, militarism, & the alt right (white nationalists).

Prof. Christopher McKnight Nichols (Oregon State) - we talk the 1918-19 flu, World War I, Isolationism, & good cocktails made with Scotch.

Dr. Karl Shoemaker (University of Wisconsin, Madison - we talk about a fascinating medieval law text in which Mary and a demon argue a class action lawsuit for the souls of all mankind.

Anne Thériault, author of "Queens of Infamy" - we talk about badass Joanna of Naples, how Jane Seymour was trash, & Bill O'Reilly's work as the Peppermint Schnapps of history.

Dr. Andrew McKevitt (Louisiana Tech University - we talk popular culture & American foreign policy, as well as American gun culture.

Dr. Mary Rambaran-Olm (@isasaxonists) - we talk anti-racism & the issue of complicity - both by consumers and producers of work in medieval studies. Plus mead.

Dr. Erik Wade (@erik_kaars) - we talk anti-racism & the issue of complicity - both by consumers and producers of work in medieval studies. Plus mead.

Prof. Joanne Freeman (Yale)! - we talk extramarital affairs, violence in Congress, using pop culture to teach about the past, & why themed cocktails.

Gautham Rao (American University) - we talk about "The West Wing," HAMILTON, nostalgia for the founding fathers, Trump & emoluments, & why (apparently) Liverpool FC are the best.

Willa Hammitt Brown (Harvard) - we talk LUMBERJACKS, American masculinity, & why the study of history is so important to understanding the world today.

Dr. Eleanor Janega (@goingmedieval) - we talk medieval dildos, the apocalypse, & how a world can exist without police (because it already did). Trust us, it all kind of ties together...

David M. Perry (medieval historian) - we talk Irish rock bands, whiskey, why they're (not) the "Dark Ages," and Vikings on camels.

Dr. Jamie Goodall (Staff historian, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Wash. D.C.) about PIRATES! They were working class! They weren't all white! Most of what you know about them is wrong!

Kevin M. Kruse (Princeton) - we talk bourbon, primary sources, & American Civil Rights, among other things.