eLIZABETH KEOHANE-BURBRIDGE, FOOTNOTING HISTORY
Proposal Type
Roundtable
Seeking
- Seeking Additional Presenters
Related Topics
- Digital
- Public Engagement
- Reflections on the Field
Abstract
Over the past decade, hundreds of millions of listeners downloaded podcast episodes about history. Podcasters interact with their listeners through blog post comments and social media exchanges. A number of trained historians host history podcasts, such as Footnoting History or In the Past Lane. Academic institutions, such as BYU’s Maxwell Institute, have also found podcasting to be an effective form of outreach. Museums, including the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, have branched out into podcasting. However, social media exchanges leave us with the question: is podcasting public history? As the NCPH states on its website, when it comes to public history, “we’ll know it when we see it.” But will we know it when we hear it?
Description
We are looking for panelists to join our round table on podcasting as public history. According to the NCPH, public history is “usually defined as history beyond the walls of the traditional classroom”. Podcasting not only takes history beyond the walls of the traditional classroom but also makes it accessible at any time and in almost any place around the world. This medium of communication has its public origins in the early 2000s and has grown to be one of the most-successful methods of disseminating information today. The widely-available (and free) nature of history podcasts makes them the primary means of obtaining a voluntary historical education for a large percentage of adults and children alike.
Unlike the majority of in-person public history programs, a recorded episode has staying power, remaining on the internet until the host removes it, able to be discovered at any time and listened to at the audience’s discretion, without leaving their homes. This makes it an ideal option for those who lack the funds, time, or physical ability to visit museums and other historical sites, and adds to the value of podcasts as public-facing history. How does awareness of this impact a host’s plans for its program?
In this roundtable, participants, including hosts of Footnoting History, will engage in conversation about how podcasts operate within the public history realm. In addition to the above questions, we will touch on other aspects of a medium which currently operates without a definitive list of qualifications that must be met for participation. What are the unspoken responsibilities independent and affiliated podcasters accept when beginning a podcast? What makes a podcast “good” public history? How can history podcasts contribute to deepening their listeners’ understanding of the complexities of the past and simultaneously resonate with a wide variety of educational levels? Do all history podcasts even count as “public history”, and are all history podcasts public historians by default? Is podcasting scholarship?
Audio podcasts are a product perfect for the internet era, when the public expects answers to even their most obscure historical questions to be available within seconds of them entering their minds. Podcasters then, are important stewards of this information and this roundtable will facilitate a conversation about this ever-developing genre and discuss its role as a modern public history tool with an infinite potential audience.
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to pass along someone’s contact information confidentially, please get in contact directly: Elizabeth Keohane-Burbridge, [email protected]
All feedback and offers of assistance should be submitted by July 1, 2019. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.
Elizabeth, this is a thoughtful and well put together proposal. There have been several history podcast sessions/workshops at NCPH past, so I would look those up and see how this one may expand on the previous ones. (See ncph2019 w6, ncph2017 s11). Also, AHA 2016 (in Atlanta coincidentally) had a really great session on history podcasting where some heavy hitters were involved (Backstory and Stuff You Missed In HIstory Class): https://aha.confex.com/aha/2016/webprogram/Session13644.html
The session got a bit heated because Brian Balogh of Backstory made a comment about how out of the top ten most popular history podcasts only one (his) was done by “trained historians.” Not sure if it was meant as a jab, but Tracy V. Wilson from Stuff You Missed in History Class was in the audience and took issue with the statement because she and her co-host are not “trained historians” – which is to mean, they do not have a history degree. I think this could be an interesting aspect to explore, especially in the confines of public history and our desire to share authority and collaborate with “non-historians.” (I use quotes, because I think these hard lines of who is/isn’t an historian are non-existent… a piece of paper with a credential doesn’t make someone more of an historian than someone else with a different type of training but I digress!). Additionally, I think what makes history podcasts popular (especially the ones created by “non-historians”) is that sometimes historians get bogged down in the research and methodology and forget how to tell an entertaining story!
As far as who to reach out to, perhaps the women at Kitchen Sisters? They recently embarked on a podcasting series about archives and librarians called The Keepers that plays regularly on NPR.
Also, did you see there is another session proposal on podcasting?! I think you folks should talk and potentially combine these!
Thank you, Rebecca! Yes, we’ve looked into previous sessions and want to keep the conversation going but also very much focused on how podcasts can be public history because there continues to be disagreement about whether this medium meets the requirements as-is. Especially as more tenure-track academics embrace podcasting the question of its inclusion in a tenure file is of a concern. As someone who is not tenure-track, this is not a personal concern but one that will hopefully give many history podcasts higher standing if it could be officially seen as a form of public history.
I was at the AHA panel on podcasting in 2016 and remember that comment well! The question of trained historians and their place in history podcasting is another area that should be addressed without, of course, disparaging any who did not attend graduate school for history. In this way, again, specific guidelines on what makes a podcast public history would help and hopefully deter gate-keeping. (If you have access to the Perspectives that came out after the conference, my podcast Footnoting History, is recommended but, unfortunately, the interview I did about it was left on the editing floor 🙂 )
I saw the other session on podcasting and am planning to reach out!
What I’ve also noticed from the proposals is how many are working to expand the umbrella of public history to account for changing forms of engagement – very excited about so many of the proposals!
Thank you for recommending the Kitchen Sisters! I’m going to look into them.
This seems like a wonderful panel. You might want to contact Liz Covart, whose Ben Franklin’s World is quite successful.
Thank you for the suggestion, Ari!
If another session like this occurs, I’d be very interested. I started a public urban history podcast called Urban Roots that captured stories from community members, interweaved archival audio, and included interviews local history experts in Cincinnati. This was all done as part of a Truth & Reconciliation project to promote local Black cultural history and I think it has been a success so far. The series is called Lost Voices of Cincinnati and can be heard in our first season, which is out now on all podcast platforms (and YouTube). IG: @urbanrootsculture / FB: @urbanrootspodcast