The AskHistorians Podcast

In this episode, u/EnclavedMicrostate interviews Brian Dott about the history of the chile pepper in China. This covers the pepper's introduction and spread, its integration into existing Chinese cuisine and understandings of culinary theory, its use as a medicine, as a cultural metaphor, and as a marker of regional identities.

In this episode, u/Sunagainstgold interviews Keagan Brewer about atheism in the Medieval period. The interview covers examples of medieval atheists, their treatment by the church, and the historical controversy over their very existence.

Guest-host Max (/u/Commustar) speaks with Reuben A. Loffman about his book "Church, State and Colonialism in Southeastern Congo; 1890-1962" (2019, Palgrave-MacMillan). This wide-ranging interview covers pre-colonial history of the Kongolo region; the role of White Fathers and Spiritan missionaries; and the experience of decolonization and the Katanga secession.

You can find Reuben Loffman on twitter as @ReubenLoffman,

This is the second part of the discussion between myself, /u/Steelcan909, and /u/EnclavedMicrostate, wherein we discuss the Opium Wars themselves, the actual role of opium in the wars, and the fallout that these events had on subsequent Chinese and European history.

Welcome to the first of our two part series on the Opium Wars! Today I, /u/Steelcan909, am joined by /u/EnclavedMicrostate in a discussion about the development of the opium trade and the tensions between the Qing government and British merchants that erupted into two wars between these Imperial giants.

We have the privilege to speak with Dr. Anya Jabour about her recent biography, "Sophonisba Breckinridge: Championing Women's Activism in Modern America." Breckinridge was a university professor in the early 20th century who played a major role in nearly every area of social activism you can fathom--and here, you have the chance to learn all about her, and to use her as a window into the history of social activism in the 20th century United States.

In this episode, Jeremy (/u/EnclavedMicrostate) interviews then-flaired-user (now newly-minted moderator) /u/Steelcan909 on the matter of the Christianisation of England during the Early Middle Ages. What happened to Christianity after the Romans left? How did it come back? Were attempts made to syncretise Christianity with paganism? And where does horse meat come into it all? Find out all this and more on this episode of the AskHistorians Podcast.

On January 4, members of the AskHistorians mod team spoke as a panel at the annual American Historical Association conference in New York City. We recorded that panel, "Historians on the Battleground of Social Media: Lessons from Eight Years of AskHistorians," to share with our listeners at home!

(Some audience questions at the end were edited out, as they were too quiet to hear or amplify in post-production. The answers are still in the podcast, though!)

You can read our papers here: https://askhistorians.com/conferences/aha2020.html

Today /u/Drylaw talks with Professor Nicholas Buccola, author of "The Fire Is upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America" (Princeton University Press, 2017), about the important 1965 debate on race between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr. We cover their influences on the civil rights and conservative movements respectively, and their ideas' continuing relevance.

You can find Professor Buccola on Twitter as @buccola_nick.

For his debut as an interviewer rather than as a guest on the podcast, Jeremy Salkeld (/u/EnclavedMicrostate) is joined by flaired user /u/dandan_noodles to discuss warfare and its changes and continuities from the mid-eighteenth century and the wars of Frederick the Great up to the early nineteenth century and the wars of Napoleon. Why were wars fought? Who joined the armies? How did they fight? Did the revolution in French politics create a revolution in French warfare? Find out all this and more in this episode.

(Total length: 102 minutes)

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