History in Focus

A Martian lands on Earth, heads to the nearest university’s History Department, and asks the question, “What is Asia?” What kind of response would they get? We explore this question with historian Nile Green, who outlines a forum titled “Big Asia: Rethinking a Region” that appears in the June 2025 issue of the AHR.

Fifty years after the fall of Saigon in April 1975, we investigate the challenges and opportunities of teaching the Vietnam War and the ways that understanding the war has changed. We speak with four contributors to an AHR forum entitled “The Vietnam War Fifty Years On,” published in the March 2025 issue—Thy Phu, David Biggs, Wen-Qing Ngoei, and Jana Lipman. And we pay a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Historian Lily Pearl Balloffet explores the real, live human relationships we form in the process of doing historical work and how, for her, those vital connections were decisively disrupted in the years of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

In this episode, we revisit AHA 2025 with a focus on history teachers. Daniel sits with Katharina Matro and Megan Porter—both high school history teachers—to talk about AHA sessions geared toward history teaching as well as the AHA 2025 K–16 Content Cohort, which this year focused on the theme of “Resilience in the History Classroom.”

In this second installment from our collaboration with African history podcast AfriWetu, Mona, with the help of guest narrator Nyaguthii, explores the North African legend of Dihya Al Kahina.

A conversation with AfriWetu host and creator Mona Nyambura Muchemi. We talk about the origins of AfriWetu, about her journey as a storyteller and student of African history, and about the state of popular understandings of African history across the continent.

Introducing the latest entry in our podcast collaboration series: a terrific and thoughtful African history podcast called AfriWetu. In this episode, host and producer Mona Nyambura Muchemi explores the history of the East African Kingdom of Buganda with special emphasis on the women of Buganda’s society.

What story can be told of the American welfare state when you broaden the view beyond established government programs and official actors? We kick off season 3 with a conversation with historians Salonee Bhaman, Bobby Cervantes, and Salem Elzway on their AHR article “A New Welfare History.”

Producers Daniel, Matt, and Conor reflect on season 2 and talk history podcasting generally. Plus a preview from Daniel on what’s coming in season 3.

Elizabeth Chatterjee examines the dynamics of the climate/food/energy crisis that shook India in the 1970s. And Andrew Highsmith discusses his feature review of three recent books on environmental crisis and recovery in the cities of Flint and Detroit.

Arlene Díaz and Kalani Craig discuss their piece exploring the Spanish American War, the use of digital methods, and the place of collaboration in historical research. Then, with Hettie Williams, we revisit the life and work of historian Marion Thompson Wright.

Producer Matt Hermane speaks with Agnieszka Aya Marczyk, Abby Reisman, and Brenda Santos about their #AHRSyllabus piece “Teaching Historiography: Testimony and the Study of the Holocaust.” Then Conor Howard hears from Woody Holton on his article “Chilling Affects: Newly Troubled about Triggering, the Far Right Takes Aim at Black History.”

Producer Matt Hermane speaks with historian Brenda Child about the March 2024 History Lab feature on Contemporary Indigenous Art and History, part of AHR’s ongoing series on “Art and Historical Method.” Then we revisit now past AHA president Edward Muir’s presidential address—titled “Conversations with the Dead”—at this year’s AHA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Sarah Abrevaya Stein presents her History Unclassified piece "Eating on the Ground: Picnicking at the End of Empire" on the picnicking practices of Sephardic Jewish communities in the late Ottoman Empire. Then History in Focus producers take you around the bustling corridors of this year's American Historical Association annual meeting in San Francisco.

Debra Blumenthal examines slave markets in 15th century Spain and their influence on conceptions of women’s health. And Beeta Baghoolizadeh discusses the legacy of racialized forms of enslavement in 19th and 20th century Iran.

Historian Tore Olsson discusses designing a history course around the popular video game Red Dead Redemption 2. And Kalani Craig introduces the AHR’s new guidelines for Digital Media Submissions.