  The medieval church gave birth to the misogynistic rhetoric that continues to hinder women’s progress in the West today, but it also witnessed the first real “feminist” rumblings of discontent. Medieval women were not content to be victims of oppression: they challenged the rhetoric, and when that didn’t work, they found ways to work around it. In this podcast, historian Sara Butler speaks about women in the Middle Ages and how they faced many of the same challenges that we do today. Sara Butler is a Professor and the King George III Chair in British History at The Ohio State University Department of History. Posted March 11, 2021.

History Talk

Medieval Women's Rights: Setting the Stage for Today

With more than 80 million forcibly displaced people in the world and another 260-plus million international migrants, humans today seem to be on the move. Debates over immigration and refugee policy in the U.S., Europe, and across the world have become fierce and deeply divisive, to say the least, and will surely continue to dominate politics in the coming years. All the while, lives are in the balance as people around the globe take the often difficult decision to set off to make a new home in another country. History allows us a glimpse at the motivations and predicaments people on the move face today and in the future. Ohio State University Department of History panelists Theodora Dragostinova, Associate Professor; Maysan Haydar, Lecturer and Robin Judd, Associate Professor discuss these issues with Host Nicholas Breyfogle, Associate Professor, Department of History.   Posted February 4, 2021.  

Migration and Mobility: Yesterday and Today

On World AIDS Day 2020, in the midst of another pandemic, Ohio State University History Professor Thomas McDow presented a close look at the historical factors that shaped the global spread of HIV, from equatorial Africa to the world. Thomas F. McDow is a specialist in African History at Ohio State University. He co-teaches a course with a microbiologist on the global history and science of HIV and is writing a history of HIV in Tanzania.     [Posted December 4, 2020]

The Global History of HIV

Ohio State University Department of History faculty experts discuss the historical context of Election 2020. Panelists include: Paula Baker, Associate Professor, Department of History; Nicholas Breyfogle, Associate Professor, Department of History and Director of the Goldberg Center; Susan Hartman, Professor Emerita, Department of History; Clay Howard, Associate Professor, Department of History; and Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Associate Professor, Department of History   -Posted Dec. 1, 2020 [A transcript of this podcast is available here.]

Election 2020: Insights from History

  Ohio State University experts Melissa Beard Jacob, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Daniel Rivers discuss Indigenous Peoples&#39; Day and the history of Indigenous People. Dr. Jacob is the Intercultural Specialist for Native American and indigenous Students and Dr. Rivers is a faculty member in the Department of History. [Posted October 14, 2020]

Indigenous Peoples' Day: A Conversation

  A conversation with Ohio State University Department of History faculty members, John Brooke, Jennifer Eaglin and Samuel White about the historical context of climate change.   [Posted September 29, 2020]

Climate Change: Insights from History

On the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment the Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences hosted a conversation with a panel of experts. They discussed the legacy of enfranchisement, especially for women of color; the ongoing gender disparity in elected officials; and how history informs the 2020 election. Panelists included: Susan Hartmann, professor emerita, Department of History; Treva Lindsey, associate professor, Department of Women&#39;s, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Sarah Paxton, JD; PhD candidate, Department of History; Producer, Prologued podcast; and Leticia Wiggins, PhD, Department of History; Multimedia Producer, WOSU Public Media. [Posted August 2020]

One Hundred Years of Women and the Vote

From Mao Zedong to Martin Luther King Jr., China has a long and complex history of interaction with African American movements for equal rights. Please join Ohio State University’s Melvin Barnes Jr. and Princeton University’s James Watson-Krips as they discuss Barnes’ research on the history of Chinese-African American interactions from the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter. [Posted July 2020]  

China and the Black Liberation Struggle in America

From Plague to Influenza and HIV, learn about the history of global pandemics in order to better understand the current coronavirus pandemic, a panel discussion with John Brooke, Jim Harris, Thomas McDow, Erin Moore, and Kristina Sessa. -Posted May 2020 [A transcript of this podcast is available here.]

Pandemics: Past, Present, Future

In early June 2019, residents of Hong Kong took to the streets to protest proposed legislation by the Hong Kong government that would enable extradition from the city to mainland China. Over the ensuing months, heavy-handed tactics by the police only swelled the movement, which has grown to involve over a million residents of Hong Kong. The demonstrators&#39; demands have also expanded to encompass an investigation into police brutality, the resignation of Chief Executive Carrie Lam and the establishment of free democratic elections in the city. Although the extradition bill itself has been withdrawn, protests seem certain to continue. For many Hong Kongers, the proposed legislation was merely the latest attempt by Beijing to undermine the unique "one country, two systems" status under which the city enjoys a large decree of economic and legal autonomy. What’s at stake in this standoff between protesters, Hong Kong’s government, and Beijing? How did Hong Kong’s autonomy come about in the first place, and how might it be at risk? On this month&#39;s episode of History Talk, host Lauren Henry discusses this pivotal moment in Hong Kong&#39;s history with two experts on modern China: Dr. Denise Y. Ho and Melvin Barnes Jr. To learn more about the history of Hong Kong and China, read our feature article, Hong Kong in Protest, by Melvin Barnes Jr. Be sure to check our other coverage of the region: Remembering Tiananmen: The View from Hong Kong, The United States, China, and the Money Question, China Dreams and the “Road to Revival”, and Modern China and Its Institutions.Professor Ho has also published her own analysis of the protests in Hong Kong: Summer of protest: Are we witnessing a turning point in Hong Kong politics? -Posted September 2019 [A transcript of this podcast is available here.]

Hong Kong and China: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

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. 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. To learn more about the history of voting, check out these Origins features: A History of Stolen Citizenship; Re-mapping American Politics: The Redistricting Revolution Fifty Years Later -Posted July 2019 [A transcript of this podcast is available here.]

From Poll Taxes to Partisan Gerrymandering: Voter Disenfranchisement in the United States

Andrés Manuel López Obrador (a.k.a.AMLO) rode to the presidency in 2018 by promising Mexico "juntos haremos historia" ("together we will make history"). Pundits have fallen over themselves trying to categorize AMLO, refering to him variously as Mexico&#39;s Jeremy Corbyn and Mexico&#39;s Donald Trump. AMLO&#39;s keen sense of his country&#39;s history has found expression in his promise to inaugurate the country&#39;s "fourth transformation." In doing so, he 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 reforms 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. From AMLO&#39;s strategic deployment of history to corruption and the politics of Mexico&#39;s "Other Border," we explore in this episode the historical context and contemporary ramifications of Mexico&#39;s 2018 election. To learn more about modern Mexican history, check out these Origins features: Shifting Borders: The Many Sides of U.S.-Mexican Relations; Mexico and the Memory of 1968; A Postcard From Oaxaca, Mexico; A Postcard from Mexico City. -Posted July 2019 [A transcript of this podcast is available here.]

"Juntos Haremos Historia": AMLO and Mexico's Fourth Transformation

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. 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 [A transcript of this podcast is available here.]

Sudan: Popular Protests, Today and Yesterday

After more than four years of war, Yemen teeters on the brink of what the European Union has described as “the world&#39;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. 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. To learn more about the War in Yemen, read this month&#39;s feature article, Yemen: A Civil War Centuries in the Making, by Dr Asher Orkaby. For more coverage of the Middle East, be sure to check out The Secular Roots of a Religious Divide in Contemporary Iraq, Alawites and the Fate of Syria, and Syria&#39;s Islamic Movement and the 2011-12 Uprising. -Posted April 2019[A transcript of this podcast is available here.]

Yemen: Inside The Forgotten War

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? We&#39;ll explore these questions, and more, during our conversation about this fast-changing situation. For more on the United Kingdom and the European Union, check out European Disunion: The Rise and Fall of a Post-War Dream?, Treating the Symptoms: Northern Ireland’s Incomplete Peace, and The EU: Past, Present, and Future. -Posted March 2019 [A transcript of this podcast is available here.]

Brexit: Dividing the United Kingdom

Smart conversations about today’s most interesting topics - a history podcast for everyone.