Podcast Episodes

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Episode 79: Alex Wellerstein Reminds Us That Writing Is a Skill to Hone

Episode 79: Alex Wellerstein Reminds Us That Writing Is a Skill to Hone

Download a0e3288f-945d-4ce8-a762-7c900b88a020.mp3 Welcome back to Drafting the Past, a podcast about the craft of writing history. For this one, I’m joined by historian of science Dr. Alex Wellerstein. I’ve been a fan of Alex since at least his first book, Restricted Data: The

Episode 78: Edward Watts Looks to the Ancient Past for Writing Advice

Episode 78: Edward Watts Looks to the Ancient Past for Writing Advice

Download 49c18c58-23d6-4e5d-a3e0-ee683e2973f0.mp3 Welcome back to Drafting the Past. I’m thrilled to be joined in this episode by historian Dr. Edward Watts. Ed is a professor of history at the University of California San Diego. He is the author of seven books, including Mortal Republic:

Episode 77: Marc James Carpenter Calls A Lie a Lie

Episode 77: Marc James Carpenter Calls A Lie a Lie

Download 38ab2106-0b90-4e71-bc6b-6bbdfac96ddb.mp3 This episode’s guest and I share a last name (no relation, though), but that’s not the only thing we have in common. We both grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where our history education left out most of the violence by

Episode 76: Karin Wulf Keeps Her Brain Humming Along

Episode 76: Karin Wulf Keeps Her Brain Humming Along

In this episode, Kate is joined by Karin Wulf, the director and librarian of the John Carter Brown Library, to discuss her new book, Lineage, and her research and writing process.

Episode 75: Jessica Lepler Knows That Criticism Is Praise

Episode 75: Jessica Lepler Knows That Criticism Is Praise

Listen to an interview with Jessica Lepler about her book Canal Dreamers, her writing process, the founding of a second book writers workshop at SHEAR, and more.

Episode 74: Mary Frances Phillips Works From a Place of Play

Episode 74: Mary Frances Phillips Works From a Place of Play

Download 07e56be2-483d-456b-b7cb-5a06e0382f70.mp3 I’ve talked to many historians who have interviewed sources in order to write their histories over more than 70 episodes of Drafting the Past, but I don’t think any has spent quite as much time getting to know their subject in

Episode 73: Tyler Anbinder Revises Every Day That He Writes

Episode 73: Tyler Anbinder Revises Every Day That He Writes

Download ed48b984-d5ee-425f-bb06-c2277b4aa8b8.mp3 Historians never quite know what kind of discoveries will enable them to write a history. For today’s guest, the list of things that contributed to his most recent book included a long-shot grant proposal, an elementary school fundraiser, and the rise

Episode 72: Joanne Paul Isn't Afraid to Call Herself an Artist

Episode 72: Joanne Paul Isn't Afraid to Call Herself an Artist

Download d6ab0cb2-f93d-435d-b455-f18e4da1e852.mp3 Even though Dr. Joanne Paul had wanted to be a writer for a long time, she had lost sight of that identity and had to find her way back to it. But now, she has embraced creativity and imagination as a historian, and

Episode 71: Raphael Cormack Makes Meaning from Unreliable Sources

Episode 71: Raphael Cormack Makes Meaning from Unreliable Sources

Download b6879124-3e73-4dd2-9d3b-b6cc4129e791.mp3 How do you write a history if you’re not quite sure which—if any—of your sources is telling the truth? All historians have to deal with sources who exaggerate, or mislead, or just come from differing perspectives. But my guest in

Episode 70: Tracy Slater Finds Her Footing as a Narrative Historian

Episode 70: Tracy Slater Finds Her Footing as a Narrative Historian

Download 9ce2b815-1f46-454c-b891-46d24b1a6059.mp3 I talk to a lot of history professors on this show, of course, but I’m always excited when I get a chance to talk to someone who is writing great history but working outside of a university setting. And my guest today

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