Podcasts are a fantastic way to share information. One of the biggest reasons I love podcasts is because it makes learning feel like a conversation. When it comes to using podcasts in history, this feeling of ‘conversation’ grows. Mainly because people tend to think of history as the collection of stories, and who doesn’t love to listen to a good story. Podcasts are a great way to convey history. Sometimes reading history can be dull, but podcasts make the words of those pages come to life. There is subtle difference between reading the material yourself and listening to someone else read you the material. Typically, it can be easier to understand the material or context better when listening to someone explaining it. This is because you can use things such as the tone and diction of the host to understand this context better. Also, in a podcast, you can rewind in case you missed something! Podcasts are a great way to help people become engaged in historical material. The only issue I currently see with podcasts is that there could be a problem with the information provided by the host or the production of the podcast could over-shine the content of the episode.
The podcast that I found most compelling in this activity was Dig; A history Podcast. The episode I listened to was titled, “A History of Racial Passing in the United States”. I thought that this podcast was one of the more engaging ones that we had to listen to. The hosts Dr. Sarah Handley-Cousins and Dr. Averill Earls presented a podcast episode concerning racial passing. They analyzed this history by discussing the history of Black Americans who racially passed as white in order to avoid oppression from laws such as Jim Crow. However, what was incredibly fascinating about this episode, was that it was revealed that today many White Americans are trying to pass as Black Americans. This information completely shocked me. According to the podcast, this is due to what I summarized as a fear of white exclusion.
Another historical story that I think would make a great podcast is the story of treasure hunter Forrest Fenn. There could already be a podcast created about this man that I just have not listened to yet, but I think his story would be interesting to tell. Although I do not believe in the taking of other cultures’ objects for personal gain, I think his story is interesting because he is the closest thing we have to a real-life, Indiana Jones.
