Reckoning with Jason Herbert

“We’re still here.” Historian Michael Oberg joins Jason Herbert to explore the history of the Onondaga Nation, keepers of the central fire of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois Six Nations.

Drawing on his book The Central Fire of the Iroquois, Oberg traces a community’s enduring commitment to its homeland, sovereignty, and traditions despite centuries of invasion, dispossession, and efforts to erase its identity. We discuss the Peacemaker and Hiawatha, the Great Law of Peace, and how ceremony, diplomacy, and listening have sustained the Onondaga people.

What changes when we place Onondaga alongside Boston and Philadelphia at the center of early American history? How did New York acquire Indigenous lands—and why does Oberg challenge the claim that the Haudenosaunee were conquered during the American Revolution? And what does the Two Row Wampum teach us about sharing space without surrendering independence?

The conversation also connects boarding schools and removal policies to the struggle to restore Onondaga Lake and Creek. Along the way, we consider historians’ responsibilities to living communities and why Indigenous sovereignty and environmental restoration matter to everyone who shares these lands.

Follow Reckoning with Jason Herbert for more conversations about Indigenous history, American history, and the stories that shape our world.

Can you really drift a battleship? Which American admiral would you trust to fight an alien invasion—and which one would get us all killed? Naval historian Trent Hone and military historian Colin Colbourn join Jason Herbert to put Battleship (2012) through a very unserious inspection with some serious U.S. Navy history.

Using the film’s alien showdown as our starting point, we explore the USS Missouri, Iowa-class battleships, and how naval warfare actually works. Could a crew of veterans bring a museum ship back into combat? How do you aim those enormous guns? And why did battleships give way to aircraft carriers and guided-missile destroyers?

We also trace the rise of American sea power, from the Navy’s early struggles to Alfred Thayer Mahan, Theodore Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet, and the Pacific War. Along the way, we discuss Japan’s naval strategy, nighttime combat around Guadalcanal, and the leadership and adaptation that can decide a battle.

Plus: Rihanna’s firepower, Liam Neeson’s burrito diplomacy, Hollywood’s relationship with military recruiting, and why the veteran sailors’ return hits harder than anyone expected. Come for the battleship drift. Stay for the history—and the admiral draft that might determine humanity’s survival.

Follow Reckoning with Jason Herbert for more conversations about history, movies, and the stories that bring them together.

Episode Description

As America prepares to commemorate Juneteenth, Jason Herbert sits down with legendary actor Ben Vereen and breakout star Amethyst Davis for a powerful conversation about The Grey House—the Civil War-era drama that explores freedom, resistance, and the unfinished legacy of slavery. Drawing on their experiences bringing the series to life, Vereen and Davis reflect on portraying Black Americans during Reconstruction, the importance of telling stories that many would rather forget, and why history remains a battleground today.

The conversation moves beyond filmmaking to explore Black liberation, historical memory, women's leadership during the Underground Railroad, and the resilience that carried generations through slavery and beyond. Vereen shares why America still needs "another slave story," while Davis discusses portraying an educated, formerly enslaved Black heroine whose intelligence and courage challenge long-held stereotypes. Together, they reflect on filming in Romania, working with director Roland Joffé, the emotional weight of key scenes, and why Juneteenth should become a day for families to gather and honor their ancestors.

This is more than a conversation about television—it's a discussion about why history matters, why these stories must continue to be told, and how remembering the past offers hope for the future.

What can a salty desert lake in Eastern California teach us about climate change, Indigenous history, migration, and the future of the American West? On this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, historian Bob Marks joins Jason to discuss his new book, Deep Time in the Mono Lake Basin, and the remarkable 10,000-year environmental history of Mono Lake Basin.

From the ancient world of the Northern Paiute and migrating Wilson’s phalaropes to the rise of Los Angeles water politics and the ecological battles that inspired comparisons to Chinatown, this conversation explores how humans transformed one of North America’s most unique ecosystems. Along the way, Jason and Bob discuss deep time, environmental history, Western water wars, Indigenous knowledge, climate resilience, the Great Basin, Mono Lake’s famous alkali flies, and why saline lakes may hold clues to our environmental future.

If you enjoy environmental history, the American West, climate history, Indigenous history, or conversations in the spirit of Dan Flores and Donald Worster, this episode is for you.

D-Day is one of the most studied military operations in history. But what if the fate of the Allied invasion hinged not on generals, tanks, or landing craft—but on a weather forecast?

In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, Jason is joined by historians Todd Arrington and Dr. Colin Colbourn to discuss the new film Pressure, starring Brendan Fraser as General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Andrew Scott as meteorologist James Stagg. Together they explore the extraordinary decisions made in the days before June 6, 1944, when uncertain forecasts, competing personalities, and the weight of history converged on a single choice: whether to launch Operation Overlord.

The conversation examines Eisenhower's leadership under immense strain, the often-overlooked role of meteorology in World War II, the disastrous rehearsal known as Exercise Tiger, and the complex relationships among Allied commanders such as Bernard Montgomery. Along the way, the panel weighs in on the film's historical accuracy, its performances, and why Pressure succeeds by telling a familiar story from an entirely unexpected angle. 

If you've ever wondered how close D-Day came to being postponed—or how something as unpredictable as the weather helped shape the course of the twentieth century—this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Topics discussed:

•  The true story behind the film Pressure
•  Dwight Eisenhower and the burden of command 
•  James Stagg and the weather forecast that changed history 
•  Exercise Tiger and the hidden costs of preparing for D-Day 
•  Bernard Montgomery, Allied politics, and coalition warfare 
•  The role of weather in World War II operations 
•  Historical accuracy versus cinematic storytelling 
•  Brendan Fraser, Andrew Scott, and Damian Lewis on screen

World War II reached far beyond the beaches of Normandy and the islands of the Pacific. It also came to Alaska, where Indigenous communities found themselves on the front lines of invasion, military occupation, and forced relocation.

In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, historian Holly Miowak Guise discusses her groundbreaking book Alaska Native Resilience: Voices from World War II. Drawing on more than 90 oral history interviews with Alaska Native elders, Guise reveals how Alaska Native communities experienced the Aleutian Campaign, wartime relocation camps, segregation, military service, and the ongoing realities of colonialism in America's far north.

Together, we explore the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands, the forced evacuation of Indigenous communities, Alaska Native military service, the power of oral history, and the ways Native peoples resisted, adapted, and rebuilt their communities in the aftermath of war.

This conversation challenges familiar narratives of the "Good War" and offers a powerful reminder that some of the most important stories of World War II remain largely unknown.

What happened at the Mariupol Drama Theater — and what does it reveal about the larger war between Russia and Ukraine?

In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, historian Jason Herbert sits down with acclaimed journalist and author James Verini to discuss his powerful new book, The Theater, an intimate account of the bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theater during Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Together, they explore the siege of Mariupol, the human cost of modern warfare, and the terrifying role propaganda plays in shaping reality during conflict. The conversation moves beyond headlines into the deeper history of Russian imperialism, the contested identity of the Donbas, the rise of Ukrainian nationalism, and why Vladimir Putin’s war may ultimately have forged a stronger Ukrainian nation than ever before.

Jason and James also discuss:

• Why the bombing of the theater became a defining atrocity of the war
• Russian propaganda and the global information war
• The historical roots of the conflict going back to the Crimean War
• Volodymyr Zelensky’s transformation during the invasion
• NATO, the United States, and the future of global democracy
• Whether Putin can survive politically if Russia loses the war
• Why Ukraine’s fight resonates far beyond Eastern Europe

Part war reporting, part historical reckoning, and part meditation on democracy itself, this episode examines one of the most consequential conflicts of the twenty-first century — and the people trapped inside it.

Historian and food studies scholar Jeffrey Pilcher joins Reckoning with Jason Herbert to explore the surprising global history of beer and how one of humanity’s oldest drinks became a worldwide commodity. Drawing from his new book Hopped Up: How Travel, Trade, and Taste Made Beer a Global Commodity, Pilcher traces beer’s journey from ancient brewing traditions to modern craft breweries, revealing how beer shaped—and was shaped by—capitalism, industrialization, migration, empire, advertising, and working-class culture.

In this episode, we discuss the origins of brewing in the ancient world, the rise of lager and Pilsner in Central Europe, German immigration and American beer culture, the globalization of brands like Heineken and Corona, and the explosion of craft brewing in the United States. Along the way, we dive into Czech beer halls, IPAs, bourbon barrel stouts, the politics of drinking, and why beer has always been about more than what’s in the glass.

If you love history, food culture, globalization, craft beer, or simply a great conversation about the human need for community and connection, this episode is for you.

What made George Washington more than a Founding Father? In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, historian H. W. Brands joins Jason to explore the man behind the marble statue—soldier, strategist, slaveholder, revolutionary, and reluctant president.

Drawing from Brands’ new biography of Washington, the conversation dives deep into the personality and contradictions of America’s first president. Together, they examine Washington’s rise during the French and Indian War, his leadership during the American Revolution, the brutal realities of Valley Forge, and the immense pressure of holding the Continental Army together when independence seemed impossible.

But this episode goes beyond battlefield mythology. Jason and Brands explore Washington’s carefully crafted public image, his obsession with reputation and character, his complicated relationship with slavery, and the enormous influence he had on later American leaders like Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower. They also tackle a larger question: why does Washington still loom so large in American memory 250 years later?

From the halls of the Constitutional Convention to the frozen encampment at Valley Forge, this is a conversation about leadership, war, power, masculinity, and the creation of the United States itself.

Perfect for fans of American history, the Revolutionary War, presidential biography, and the complicated legacy of the Founding Fathers.

What does The Green Knight reveal about masculinity, honor, fear, and the strange world of medieval storytelling?

In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, historian and medievalist Matt Gabriele joins Jason for a deep dive into David Lowery’s haunting adaptation of the Arthurian legend Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Together, they unpack the film’s rich symbolism, eerie atmosphere, and surprisingly human portrayal of knighthood in the Middle Ages.

From Dev Patel’s unforgettable performance as Gawain to the mythology surrounding King Arthur, the conversation explores how medieval people understood honor, courage, religion, violence, and destiny. Jason and Matt discuss the real history behind Arthurian legends, the meaning of chivalry, the role of Christianity and folklore in medieval Europe, and why The Green Knight may be one of the most honest medieval films ever made.

Along the way, they tackle medieval masculinity, race in the medieval world, storytelling traditions, and the enduring power of myth in modern culture. Plus: bourbon, bad decisions, Monty Python, and why every historian secretly wants to talk about talking foxes and giants.

If you love medieval history, Arthurian lore, fantasy films, mythology, or thoughtful movie analysis, this episode is for you.

Topics Include:

• The Green Knight explained 
•  King Arthur and the origins of Arthurian legend 
•  Medieval masculinity and chivalry 
•  Dev Patel as Gawain 
•  Religion and magic in the Middle Ages 
•  Medieval storytelling and folklore 
•  Race and diversity in medieval Europe 
•  Why The Green Knight feels so different from other medieval films 
•  The real meaning of honor and oathkeeping