Conversations in World History

Andrew Porwancher is a professor of history at the University of Oklahoma who teaches courses in Constitutional Studies. He earned his Ph.D. in history from Cambridge. We discuss his book The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton, which won the Journal of the American Revolution Book-of-the-Year Award. Andrew has held research fellowships at a number of universities, including Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford. In 2017, Porwancher won the Longmire Prize for innovation in teaching. We discuss the groundbreaking argument he advances that Alexander Hamilton was probably born Jewish. Why does he believe this and how strong is the evidence? Equally important, what light might this shed on Hamilton’s perspectives toward Jews during an era of pervasive antisemitism, his stance on religious liberty, and his relationships with prominent Jews of his time.

Books recommended by Andrew:

Alexander Hamilton and the Development of American Law by Kate Elizabeth Brown

Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth by Stephen F. Knott

Today I speak with Adam Hochschild, journalist, lecturer at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and author of eleven books. American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis is his most recent. King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa and To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 were both selected as finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award. We discuss the British Anti-Slavery Movement and his 2006 book Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the PEN USA Literary Award, the Gold Medal of the California Book Awards, and was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Adam recommends these two books:

The Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano

Disposable People by Kevin Bales

Today I’m speaking with Professor Christopher Ebert of Brooklyn College and Professor Thiago Kause of UNIRIO, which is the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. They are co-authoring a book about the history of the city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of colonial Brazil. Chris was my master’s thesis advisor about a decade ago and he previously wrote a book called Between Empires: Brazilian Sugar in the Early Atlantic Economy, 1550-1630. He specializes in Latin American history from an Atlantic perspective. Thiago is a professor of Early Modern History and Brazilian history. We discuss the process and value of co-authoring a history book –which is pretty unique in this field– and then we dig into what made Salvador an important city in the colonial Atlantic world and why it continues to be such a special city within Brazil and the Americas.

Recommended Books:

Blacks of the Land by John Monteiro

Divining Slavery and Freedom by João José Reis 

I’m speaking with the author of The Island at the Center of the World, Russell Shorto. Russell is a narrative historian who tells a story like no other, but he also makes thought-provoking and compelling arguments. Along with The Island at the Center of the World, we discuss his book Amsterdam about the important history of the Dutch capital. He recently came out with another book Smalltime about the mobster hiding in his family’s closet. You can find all his superb books and his Tell your family story course at Russell Shorto.com. 

Teaching Guide and Worksheet: davidsherrin.com

Books Recommended by Russell Shorto:

Home by Witold Rybczynski

The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

I speak with Christian Bailey, professor of Modern European History at SUNY Purchase. Christian recently published the book German Jews in Love: A History, which traces the experience of Jewish marriages from the 1870s until the post-WWII era. He uses diaries, love letters, and other sources to connect the personal to the political and illuminate the German Jewish home and notions of love. 

Books recommended by Christian:

Between Dignity and Despair by Marion Kaplan

Jews, Germans, and Allies by Atina Grossman

Today I’m speaking with Professor Yuma Totani about the post-WWII war crimes trials that the allies held against the Japanese. You may have heard of the more famous Nuremberg Trials against Nazi war crimals, which we mention, but here we will delve into the lesser known Far East trials. From 1946-1948, 11 countries including the United States prosecuted thousands of Japanese for charges ranging from Cimes against Peace to rape and sexual violence. The most famous person brought to justice was Prime Minister and General Hideki Tojo. 

Yuma teaches history at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and she is a historian of modern Japan. She has written and taught extensively on the pacific war and especially the Japanese war crimes, mass atrocities, and international criminal justice. You should check out her War Crimes Document initiative: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a155729757994bb89c3770c74739e066

Books on this topic recommended by Yuma:

The Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials by Telford Taylor

The Case of General Yamashita by Frank Reel

I speak to John Shekitka about what is worth knowing in social studies education. We begin with a discussion of the Neo-Confucian philosophers' and their view on moral vs. intellectual learning and then we branch off from there in a fun, lively, thought-provoking conversation about history education. John is a professor of social studies education at Manhattanville College and after teaching high school and serving as a principal he has taught at Columbia University's Teachers College, Marist College, and elsewhere. You can read his article here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20965311221145446

Here are two books recommended by John:

House of History by Anna Green and Kathleen Troup

Sources of Chinese Civilization by William Theodore de Bary

What is Confucianism? How could Confucianism help us grow moral? Stephen Angle is a professor of East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University. He specializes in Chinese Philosophy, Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism, and comparative philosophy. He is the author of a fantastic little green book called Growing Moral: A Confucian Guide to life. It is insightful, friendly, accessible, and hits the sweet spot of 230 engaging pages. He is the co-creator with a few other professors at Wesleyan of an excellent website on philosophy with an abundance of resources called https://livingagoodlife.com.

See here for a teaching worksheet for this episode at my website

https://www.davidsherrin.com/cwh

Additional books he recommends are:

Understanding the Analects of Confucius  by Peimin Ni

Confucianism in China by Tony Swain

The Wrong of Rudeness by Amy Olberding

Massimo Pigliucci is the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. He has written many books, including How to Be A Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life (Basic Books) as well as Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk (University of Chicago Press). Here, I speak with him about the ancient Greeks and their teachings on character, virtue, politics and other ideas that can be found in his recent book The Quest for Character: What the Story of Socrates and Alcibiades Teaches Us about Our Search for Good Leaders. You can check out his work on his website https://massimopigliucci.org/ or the substack Figs in Winter.

See here for a teaching worksheet for this episode at my website

https://www.davidsherrin.com/cwh

Additional books he recommends are:

The Character Gap by Christian Miller

The Art of Living by John Sellars

Professor Chuck Walker and I discuss the Tupac Amaru Rebellion in colonial Peru as well as connections to the unrest in Peru in 2023. We delve into women's roles in the rebellion, conceptions of Latino identity, racism against indigenous Quechua speakers, and much more.

Chuck is a professor of history at UC-Davis and the author of many acclaimed books on Peruvian history including The Tupac Amaru Rebellion and the recent graphic history Witness to the Age of Revolution: The Odyssey of Juan Bautista Tupac Amaru.