Centre Trail History Podcast

Tara asks John about one of this classes this term, an upper division course called "Age of the Samurai." John talks about what the course covers, from romantic battles to noble deaths.

John and Tara are coming to the end of a long semester, and with Thanksgiving on the horizon sat down to chat about a subject they both enjoy a great deal: historical fiction! In particular, we talk about why we like this genre of writing in our capacity as historians. When is there too much fiction in your history? What are the benefits of being able to play around with historical fact in the interest of telling a story?

John and Tara get together to talk about how the public remembers and celebrates veterans of the armed services. Practices differ across the Atlantic despite a shared history in the two largest conflicts of the twentieth century.

John and Tara welcome Centre Trail's new intern Payton, and Tara shares her research on a parody of the college catalog produced by Centre College students in 1854. Be ready for hilarious stories of one legged professors and the noble sport of turkey stealing. Off to the wars again!

John and Tara talk about the tragic fire at the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. What does it mean to lose these records of human knowledge, and how do historians approach the reality of limitations to the knowledge we have collected? What are archives and how do historians use them?

Following the passing of Senator John McCain, John and Tara talk about the history of social conventions surrounding the deaths of political figures in the United States and China.

JD Dotson, Payton Howard, Sam Long, Kersey Reynolds and Will Smith discuss the concept of performance enhancement in modern sport.

Benjamin Hadlock, Austin Lotspeich, Trace Oliver and Andrew Salchli discuss the infamous Black Sox scandal of 1919 as part of a broader look at the phenomenon of cheating in sport.

Dylan Barnett, Trevor Carnell, Jeffrey Chen and Lauren Richards look at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games, hosted by Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Carson Ebert, Alex Leff, Evan Whitis and Wu Sili discuss the famous "Miracle on Ice", when the United States ice hockey team shockingly defeated their counterparts from the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics.