Shows
MakingHistoryAn Infidel Body-Snatcher and the Fruits of His PhilosophyAn audiobook version of Dan Allosso's 2013 biography of Dr. Charles Knowlton, read by the author in 2022 and 2023. Running time 7:37.
2023-07-017h 37
MakingHistoryCaleb and Dan Discuss ChatGPT and EducationA 90-minute talk with my colleague Caleb Curfman about ChatGPT and Education, in which we discuss challenges and opportunities created by technologies.
Caleb's website: https://calebcurfman.com/
2023-06-151h 29MakingHistoryThe Future of Publishing?I received an interesting letter from the executive editor at my publisher, which got me thinking again about publishing and looking at the experiences of some folks I know.
2021-04-1808 minMakingHistoryInspiration and InterestThis is the first part of a new series I'm going to make, for my expanded update of "A Short Handbook for Writing Essays in the Humanities and Social Sciences", which I'm enhancing to include a lot more content on Note-taking. This will be a video series on YouTube and an audio series here. I'll add a new one weekly for about the next seven months.
2021-04-1710 min
MakingHistoryProcessing and Using PDFsA quick description of how I make PDFs and some of the apps I've used to annotate them and share them with my students.
2020-12-3107 minMakingHistoryFilling Empty Notes in Obsidian (#102)A quick description of how I'm working on filling in the Empty Notes I make in Obsidian, and along the way editing a Wikipedia page.
2020-12-2904 minMakingHistoryOER Textbook in Obsidian?Some initial thoughts about making the open educational resources I create available to my students (and maybe to the general public?) as Obsidian "Vaults".
2020-12-2907 min
MakingHistoryPrivate Hypothesis Class Discussions (#100)How I use private groups in Hypothes.is to create a safe space for students to explore ideas, to focus them on classmates rather than the outside world, and to avoid annotation saturation in texts I assign.
2020-12-1606 minMakingHistoryNotes on another Luhmann ArticleMarkus Krajewski's 2013 article, "Paper as Passion", and my process taking the notes and getting them into my workflow.
2020-12-1613 minMakingHistoryTaking Reading Notes from a Print BookHow I take notes on a book I can't write in, as well as some thoughts about grabbing clips and comments from audiobooks.
2020-12-1308 min
MakingHistoryRoam and ObsidianSome initial thoughts about Roam Research and Obsidian, their relative strengths, and the very cool communities surrounding each app.
2020-12-0806 minMakingHistorySchmidt's 2016 article on Luhmann (#96)My review of a very good article from a recent book, and some additional thoughts about MarginNote 3 and my own note-taking process.
2020-12-0512 min
MakingHistoryMarginNote 3 Again: How do I like it now?At the end of a very hectic semester, I'm re-evaluating some of the apps I was excited about trying at the beginning.
2020-12-0405 minMakingHistoryNotes on Luhmann's essay on Notes (#94)I read Luhmann's 1981 article, "Kommunikation mit Zettelkästen", and here are my notes on it (in English).
2020-11-2612 min
MakingHistoryGetting Things Done, part 1This weekend I listened to the first third of David Allen's famous book and began thinking about implementing the GTD program in my own process.
2020-11-1606 min
MakingHistoryMy Note-taking ProcessThe reading and note-taking process I developed in grad school, and thoughts about how and why I want to teach it to my students.
2020-11-1507 minMakingHistoryPlanning to Teaching Note-takingI'm starting to plan how to turn the things I've been learning about my own reading, note-taking, and writing process into material to teach my students how to do something similar.
2020-11-1408 min
MakingHistoryKuhn's Paradigms in Historical ThinkingA quick description of Thomas Kuhn's famous book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and how I think it applies to historical thinking.
2020-11-1011 min
MakingHistoryVisualizing HistoriographyA brief description of how I used to work as a grad student, processing books in my little study carrel at UMass and building Tinderbox "trees" of historiography. I've since moved on to MarginNote 3 and Roam, but I'm still thinking about visualizations.
2020-11-0506 minMakingHistoryKindle Highlights to Roam Reading NotesTalking about how I'm adding Reading Notes into Roam Research from Kindle highlights and notes. Also, more of my comments on Sönke Ahrens' book, How to Take Smart Notes.
2020-11-0410 min
MakingHistoryMore Thoughts on Roam Research & Smart Notes Reading GroupI'm thinking about the idea of block quotes vs. paraphrasing, the things I'll probably use Roam Research for (and not), and my notes on the first chapter of Sönke Ahrens' book, How to Take Smart Notes.
2020-11-0309 min
MakingHistoryRoam Reading Group (#86)My thoughts about the first Zoom meeting of the Roam Research Reading Group that's going to read Sönke Ahrens book How to Take Smart Notes this month. It was a great model for a virtual conference! Also, my notes on the book's Introduction.
2020-11-0209 minMakingHistoryDiscovering Permanent Notes in RoamA second pod about my learning process, as I've been messing around in Roam Research for about three weeks now and loving it.
2020-10-3010 min
MakingHistoryElectoral CollegeI listened to NowThis's final Who Is? pod of the season, on the Electoral College. While I get what they were trying to say, I think there were some historical lapses that could be corrected to improve their argument about power inequality throughout American history.
2020-10-2905 min
MakingHistoryMore HyFlex!More thoughts on what I need to change about my classes and teaching as I move to the Hybrid-Flexible format.
2020-10-2806 minMakingHistoryDecolonization, Part 2Part 2 of Chapter 10, for my Modern World History class at Bemidji State University, Fall 2020.
2020-10-2835 min
MakingHistoryHyFlex!My initial thoughts about the Hybrid-Flexible course format, which I'll be using this spring in all my courses. It promises to greatly increase student agency and flexibility, but comes with some additional work which I'll begin reporting on as I prepare for and implement this change.
2020-10-2706 minMakingHistoryDecolonization, part 1The first half of Chapter 10 of my Modern World History course for Bemidji State University, Fall 2020.
2020-10-2629 minMakingHistoryWorld War II, part 2 (#79)The second half of the Second World War and its immediate aftermath, for my Modern World History class at Bemidji State University, Fall 2020.
2020-10-2557 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 15: February 2, 1851Lucius writes a long letter to Henry, with lots of news including, by the way, that he has a new daughter.
2020-10-2410 min
MakingHistoryNote-takingI'm reading and watching lots of videos on Zettelkasten. I think when I teach it to my students, I'm going to just call it note-taking.
2020-10-2305 min
MakingHistoryDan's Book Reviews #4: James C. ScottAnarchist James C. Scott has contributed greatly to my thoughts about the power and scope of empires, and the ways people have resisted them throughout history.
2020-10-2211 min
MakingHistoryDan's Book Reviews #4: James C. ScottAnarchist James C. Scott has contributed greatly to my thoughts about the power and scope of empires, and the ways people have resisted them throughout history. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danallosso.substack.com
2020-10-2211 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 14: December 8, 1850Lyman returns home to Van Buren from a 400-mile cattle drive to the Missouri River.
2020-10-2205 minMakingHistoryWorld War II, part 1 (#74)The first half of the Second World War, for my Modern World History class at Bemidji State University, Fall 2020.
2020-10-2144 minMakingHistoryMuckrakers (#73)I assigned a reading to my Gilded Age class this week from my favorite Muckraker, so I thought I'd take a couple minutes to define the term.
2020-10-2008 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 13, August 23, 1850.A letter from a distant relative, General Nathan Ranney of St. Louis, about genealogy.
2020-10-1905 min
MakingHistoryPlanning for Hybrid coursesI'm planning to offer my courses in a hybrid format going forward, to add flexibility for students while (hopefully!) not adding too much additional work for me.
2020-10-1705 min
MakingHistoryHorwitz's really radical legal historyMy review of The Transformation of American Law, 1780-1860, one of the most consequential books I read in grad school.
2020-10-1720 minMakingHistoryThe Modern Crisis, part 2The second half of my 8th chapter in my Modern World History, for my Bemidji State University class, Fall 2020.
2020-10-1642 min
MakingHistoryRoam Research for BeginnersMy thoughts after a week of playing with the new app, on the usefulness of Roam Research (spoiler, I like it a lot!).
2020-10-1606 minMakingHistoryGrad SchoolSecond half of my "interview" with my friend Nick Heisserer, where he talks about his decision to go for a PhD and his thoughts about higher education.
2020-10-1518 min
MakingHistoryResearchConversation with my colleague and friend Nick Heisserer about researching a PhD dissertation topic.
2020-10-1425 min
MakingHistoryBook Review #2A second book review in my new series, about Joyce Appleby's 1984 book, Capitalism and a New Social Order: the Republican Vision of the 1790s.
2020-10-1415 minMakingHistoryThe Modern Crisis, part 1The social, cultural, and economic fallout of the Great War. For my Modern World History class at Bemidji State University, Fall 2020.
2020-10-1345 min
MakingHistoryDan's Book Reviews #1Percy Wells Bidwell's Rural Economy in New England at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century, which I first read as a grad student and now have a slightly different reaction to. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit danallosso.substack.com
2020-10-1307 min
MakingHistoryDan's Book Reviews #1Percy Wells Bidwell's Rural Economy in New England at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century, which I first read as a grad student and now have a slightly different reaction to.
2020-10-1307 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 12: August 8, 1850Another letter from Lyman in Van Buren, Arkansas. Although he likes "merchandising", Lyman would really prefer studying medicine -- if he only had the funds.
2020-10-1305 min
MakingHistoryThe Columbian ExchangeAlfred W. Crosby Jr.'s groundbreaking 1972 book and its reception, in a new "History in 15" segment.
2020-10-1212 min
MakingHistoryWriting an OERThis semester I'm writing an OER textbook for my course, Modern World History. No wonder I feel busy!
2020-10-1106 min
MakingHistoryTrachtenberg v LamoreauxThis week I'll be exposing my students to two quite different types of history of the Gilded Age.
2020-10-1005 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 10: March 8, 1850A second letter from Lyman, working in Van Buren, Arkansas.
2020-10-0908 min
2020-10-0909 min
MakingHistoryFritz Haber (#56)A look at the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who invented the process we use to make nitrogen fertilizer, and some of the complicated aspects of his life and his process.
2020-10-0906 min
MakingHistoryPeshtigo FireToday in history (October 8, 1871), the most devastating fire in American History broke out in Peshtigo Wisconsin. It wasn't a freak accident caused by a dry summer. It was an externality of the lumber industry.
2020-10-0805 minMakingHistoryThe Great WarA longish (65 minute) talk about World War I, for week seven of my Modern World History class at Bemidji State University, Fall 2020.
2020-10-081h 05
MakingHistoryProductivity ToolsA first look at some new tools I'm exploring to amp up my efficiency and effectiveness.
2020-10-0705 min
MakingHistoryHitchens and Jefferson (#52)My review of the short biography of Thomas Jefferson by the always controversial but also quite interesting Christopher Hitchens.
2020-10-0606 minMakingHistoryColumbus ControversyWas Columbus a Heroic Discoverer or a Genocidal Invader? A talk for Bemidji State University's Hispanic Heritage Month.
2020-10-0549 min
MakingHistoryBirth Control in 1831Dr. Charles Knowlton wrote America's first birth control manual in 1831, and was jailed for it. But based on records from the town where he lived, it worked!
2020-10-0506 min
MakingHistoryHistorically ThinkingMy reaction to Active History's Episode 162, reacting to the Patriotic History vs. 1619 controversy.
2020-10-0405 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter #9: Jan. 8, 1850Lyman Ranney writes the first of several letters to Henry from the South. He includes observations on slavery.
2020-10-0407 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter #8: Aug. 28, 1847A short letter from Henry's nephew, Frederick T. Ranney, writing to collect a debt.
2020-10-0402 min
MakingHistoryRadicals4TodayThinking about how the stories of radicals in the past can be useful in the present, with a 201-year old quote from Richard Carlile.
2020-10-0406 min
MakingHistoryBradlaugh and Historical FictionI originally joined the PhD program in History at UMass because I wanted to write about Englishmen Charles Bradlaugh -- but I'm still not sure whether that writing is going to be history or historical fiction!
2020-10-0306 min
MakingHistoryThe Osborne EffectUsing a (slightly inaccurate) story from recent history to explain why Tesla underpromises and overdelivers on new technology disruptions. H/T to Gali Russell of Hyperchange.
2020-10-0205 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 7: August 29, 1844A second letter from Jasper Bement, on a business and political trip to western New York and Detroit.
2020-10-0206 min
2020-10-0106 min
MakingHistoryThomas PaineTo a great extent, the fight over Thomas Paine's legacy = United States History.
2020-09-3006 min
MakingHistoryRobert OwenRobert Owen was an early textile mill owner in England, who inspired the men who built the New England textile industry. He was also a socialist who worked to insure the health and welfare of his community of workers.
2020-09-2906 minMakingHistoryChanging EmpiresChapter Six of my Modern World History course for Bemidji State University, Fall 2020. This one focuses on the changing nature of imperialism, which never really goes away, but shifts from military and political to economic neo-imperialism.
2020-09-281h 22
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 6: August 23, 1844Henry's friend and fellow abolitionist, Jasper Bement, writes from a trip west where he conducted both business and "Liberty" politics.
2020-09-2809 min
MakingHistoryWater and PigsI like to talk about the environments of cities when I teach Environmental History. Here are a couple of things about water and stray pigs in 19th-century New York City.
2020-09-2806 min
MakingHistorySocialismI've reached the place in my Modern World History course where I talk about socialism. Here are some thoughts about talking to students about this contentious topic.
2020-09-2605 minMakingHistoryChinampasHow did the Aztecs feed the 200,000 people living in their capital, Tenochtitlán? Using floating gardens called chinampas, which still exist today -- but just barely.
2020-09-2505 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 5: Feb. 15, 1844Lewis writes to Henry on his return home to Florence, Michigan.
2020-09-2407 min
MakingHistoryFoner's ReconstructionRevisiting my impressions of Eric Foner's foundational book on the post Civil War period.
2020-09-2406 min
MakingHistoryVoyages of Zheng HeA surprising story from Chinese history -- and one of those moments when everything could have turned out quite differently.
2020-09-2306 min
MakingHistoryBattle Cry of FreedomI read this classic on the Civil War over a decade ago. I wonder if my opinion of it would be different now?
2020-09-2206 minMakingHistoryThe Troubled 19th CenturyWhen Napoleon was finally defeated for good in 1815, the Europeans fried to reset the clock. That failed, partly due to the Industrial Revolution.
2020-09-2153 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 4: Feb. 15, 1884Lewis Ranney writes to Henry on his return to Florence, Michigan.
2020-09-2107 min
MakingHistoryTools for HistoriansLooking at a variety of applications to help me work more efficiently and thinking about connecting with work I've done in the past.
2020-09-2106 min
MakingHistoryThe Charles River BridgeAn example from history of why monopolies (and even corporations) aren't necessarily the best way to solve some public needs.
2020-09-2007 min
MakingHistoryMobilityThe number of people passing through cities in the nineteenth century was an order of magnitude greater than the change in population from one census to the next.
2020-09-1907 min
MakingHistoryStaples and Stone ToolsDid you know that natives of the Americas invented three of today's top five staple crops?
2020-09-1807 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 3: April 30, 1843Another letter from Lucius to Henry Ranney, telling of a new farm and advising his brother to marry.
2020-09-1712 min
MakingHistoryMicrohistoryA quick take on the idea of writing history through the stories of unusual people, since I've just begun the Ranney Letters series on the podcast here as well.
2020-09-1707 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter 2: May 15, 1842The second Ranney letter and the first from Lucius to Henry, announcing Lucius' arrival in Allen Michigan in May 1842.
2020-09-1706 min
MakingHistoryRanney Letter #1, May 19, 1839An introduction to the Ranney family and their origins, and the first letter of the series, dated May 19, 1839, from Lewis G. Ranney in Phelps New York to Henry S. Ranney in Ashfield Massachusetts.
2020-09-1623 min
MakingHistoryThe Ranney LettersAnnouncing the Ranney Letters, a collection of over five dozen personal letters saved by Henry S. Ranney in Ashfield Massachusetts, written by his seven brothers as they lived, worked, and traveled across the continent between 1839 and the end of the century. I found these in a file folder in the Ashfield Historical Society Museum, and they kindly allowed me to photograph, transcribe, and report on the contents. I'll be talking about one per week and reading it aloud, in slightly longer posts on this History4Today channel.
2020-09-1605 min
MakingHistoryMonte VerdeA description of the Monte Verde archaeological site in southern Chile, which native Americans occupied nearly 15,000 years ago. I also mention Clovis and stone tools a bit, too.
2020-09-1506 minMakingHistoryColonial North AmericaChapter 4 of my US History I course at Bemidji State University, Fall 2020.
2020-09-141h 15
MakingHistoryBerle on MonopolyLawyer and diplomat Adolf A. Berle wrote about capitalism in 1954. His description of monopoly sounds remarkably like Zephyr Teachout's recent take-down in Break 'Em Up.
2020-09-1406 min
MakingHistory9/11 in Latin AmericaA History in 7 episode covering the 1973 coup in Chile and Chile's copper economy.
2020-09-1306 minMakingHistoryEarly Globalization and RevolutionsChapter Four in my Modern World History course at Bemidji State University, Fall 2020.
2020-09-1353 minMakingHistoryErasmus Darwins of MassachusettsOver a hundred children in Massachusetts between 1800 and 1850 were named after Darwin. Not Charles Darwin, but his grandfather Erasmus. This says something remarkable about the interests and reading habits of regular people in early America -- especially rural people.
2020-09-1216 min
MakingHistoryBeringia was not a bridgeA quick explanation why it's misleading to say the ancestors of Native Americans came via a land bridge from Asia.
2020-09-1205 min
MakingHistoryBella Ciao!My first History in 7 pod, in which I talk for about six and a half minutes about the Italian partisan folk song, Bella Ciao. I'll be tryin gto post a History in 7 daily, so there's never been a better time to subscribe!
2020-09-1106 min
MakingHistoryEarly North American ColonizationThe third installment of my US History I course, Fall 2020.
2020-09-0949 minMakingHistoryThe Americas and the Columbian ExchangeThe third installment in my Modern World History series, describing what happened when Europeans "discovered" the Americas.
2020-09-0955 min