History Talk, the history podcast from Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective

Voting is perhaps the most fundamental act of democratic citizenship. In a democracy, our political leaders receive their mandate, and the system itself derives its legitimacy, from the people who elect them. In the United States, however, the right to vote has never been extended universally. Although the franchise has expanded to include many more citizens since 1776, these gains have come haltingly and unevenly. Even as women gained suffrage, African Americans were kept from the polls in many parts of the country for decades. And elected officials have long meddled with district boundaries to choose their constituents, rather than the other way around.

An in-text version of this episode can be found at: https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/historytalk/poll-taxes-partisan-gerrymandering-voter-disenfranchisement-united-states

This month, hosts Lauren Henry and Eric Michael Rhodes speak with two experts on voter disenfranchisement in the United States—Professors Daniel P. Tokaji and Pippa Holloway—to consider the past and present of voting rights. How does historical voter suppression continue to affect electoral outcomes today? Listen in to find out.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador (a.k.a. "AMLO") rode to the presidency in 2018 by promising Mexico that "juntos haremos historia" (together we will make history). Pundits have fallen over themselves trying to categorize AMLO, refering to him variously as Mexico's Jeremy Corbyn and Mexico's Donald Trump. AMLO's keen sense of Mexico's history has found expression in his promise to inaugurate the country's "fourth transformation." In doing so, AMLO has positioned himself squarely in the pantheon of Mexican reformers: the phrase is a reference to the march of Mexican politics towards social democracy (after independence in 1810, the liberal reforma of the 1850s, and the Mexican Revolution in the early 1900s).

This month, hosts Lauren Henry and Eric Michael Rhodes speak with two experts on 20th century Mexican history—Drs. Elena Jackson Albarrán and Reyna Esquivel-King—to consider what exactly such a transformation might look like, given Mexico's history. From AMLO's strategic deployment of history to corruption to the politics of Mexico's "Other Border," we explore in this episode the historical context and contemporary ramifications of Mexico's 2018 election.

An in-text version of this episode can be found at: https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/historytalk/juntos-haremos-historia-amlo-mexico-fourth-transformation-Andr%C3%A9s-Manuel-L%C3%B3pez-Obrador-history-cuarta-transformaci%C3%B3n

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, famed women’s rights activist, is most closely associated with advocating the right to vote for women and helping to orchestrate the first women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, NY in 1848.

An in-text version of this episode can be found at:https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/milestones/november-2015-elizabeth-cady-stanton-wife-mother-revolutionary-thinker

In April 2019, four months of sustained protests throughout Sudan culminated in the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled the country since taking office in a 1989 military coup. Originally a response to the spiraling cost of living, demonstrators soon widened their criticisms to encompass the full impact of Bashir’s three decades in power: brutal political repression, economic stagnation, and civil war in the country’s west and south. In the end, the huge crowds who took to the streets of Khartoum and other cities (including a significant proportion of women) crystallized their demands in a simple chant, directed at Bashir: “Just fall — that’s all.”

International observers have suggested that the uprising in Sudan represents a second “Arab Spring.” Yet perhaps more important is the long history of popular protest within Sudan, which have twice in the past toppled autocratic governments. As protestors continue to defy the military government and demand the establishment of civilian rule, understanding Sudan’s past is key to any attempt to predict its future.

An in-text version of this episode can be found at:https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/historytalk/sudan-popular-protests-today-and-yesterday

Join us in this month’s History Talk podcast, as your hosts Lauren Henry and Eric Michael Rhodes discuss this pivotal moment for Sudan with two experts on Sudanese history and politics: Ahmad Sikainga and Kim Searcy.

To learn more about the history of Sudan, read our feature article, Who Owns the Nile? Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia’s History-Changing Dam. Be sure to check our other coverage of the region: All Politics is Local: Understanding Boko Haram, Searching for Wakanda: The African Roots of the Black Panther Story, and our recent episode, Who Owns the Past? Museums and Cultural Heritage Repatriation.

-Posted May 2019

Bartolomé de las Casas, sickened by the exploitation and physical degradation of the indigenous peoples in the Spanish colonies of the Caribbean, gave up his extensive land holdings and slaves and traveled to his homeland in Spain in 1515 to petition the Spanish Crown to stop the abuses that European colonists were inflicting upon the natives of the New World. Written by Dani Anthony. Narration by Dr. Nicholas Breyfogle.

An in-text version of this episode can be found at: https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/milestones/july-2015-bartolom-de-las-casas-and-500-years-racial-injustice

More than any other event of the eighteenth century, the French Revolution, which began in 1789, changed the face of modern politics across Europe and the world. And it all began one July day when the people of Paris captured a fourteenth-century gothic prison known as the Bastille.

Written by Mircea Platon. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle.

An in-text version of this episode can be found at: https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/milestones/july-2014-storming-bastille

After more than four years of war, Yemen teeters on the brink of what the European Union has described as “the world's largest humanitarian crisis.” Conservative estimates count at least 10,000 civilian deaths in the ongoing conflict, with millions more threatened by disease and famine. Yet for many in the West, Yemen remains a forgotten war, despite the fact that the Saudi-backed forces fighting the northern Houthi rebels continue to deploy weapons produced in the United States and in Europe with devastating effect.

An in-text version of this episode can be found at: https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/historytalk/yemen-civil-war-history

This month, History Talk explores the current conflict in Yemen and its historical antecedents with two experts on the region: Dr. Asher Orkaby and Dr. Austin Knuppe. We examine the conflict in its multiple facets – a civil war between regional parties, an anti-terrorism campaign, and a proxy war between regional foes: it’s all three – to better understand why peace remains so elusive.

Written and narrated by Prof. Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Department of History at Ohio State University. This is a description of the time surrounding the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

An in-text version of this episode can be found at: https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/milestones/april-2018-assassination-dr-martin-luther-king-jr

In the wake of Donald Trump’s failure to immediately condemn the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis following the events in Charlottesville, VA by condemning violence “on both sides,” he repeated a long history of blaming others for acts of terror perpetrated by white supremacists. To put Charlottesville in context, let’s review the history of white supremacist violence in the United States.

An in-text version of this episode can be found at: https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/connecting-history/top-ten-origins-white-supremacist-violence

On June 23rd, 2016, 52% of voters in the United Kingdom stunned the British political and media establishment—and the entire world—by voting to leave the European Union. Nearly three years, later, however, the final outcome of Brexit remains uncertain. And issues that affect the lives of millions hang in the balance, from the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and Britons living in the EU, to the status of the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

In this month’s History Talk, we speak with Professors Laura Beers and Ian Sheldon to better understand the roots and consequences of Brexit. How has the relationship between Britain and the European continent changed? What were the political and economic forces that compelled the UK to join the EU in the first place? What made so many Britons eager to leave? And what comes next? We'll explore these questions, and more, during our conversation about this fast-changing situation.

An in-text version of this episode can be found at: https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/historytalk/brexit-british-politics-history