Our guest today is naval historian John Beeler of the University of Alabama. John has been at Bama since 1993 and seen it all, we'd dare to say. John has written extensively on British naval policy during the Victorian era, while at the same time amassing a literal garage full of vinyl - his record collection numbers in the thousands! He is also a hyper-keen BBQ aficionado/snob, claiming that the only authentic BBQ is somewhere in North Carolina - everything else is "smoked meat." He's right up our alley - enjoy our chat with the generous John Beeler - we'll talk growing up with academic parents, follies as an undergraduate, British naval history, students at Bama, the close relationships born in graduate school, Captain Beefheart, Stubb's BBQ Sauce, and more - we really enjoyed this one.
Shout out to Archibald andWoodrow's BBQ in Tuscaloosa!
Rec.: 10/14/2025
