The Tattooed Historian Show

AI bots have been swarming the websites of archives, libraries, and museums in an attempt to train large language models (LLM). In June, Michael Weinberg released a report about this entitled "Are AI Bots Knocking Cultural Heritage Offline?" We discuss this and more in this episode.

Michael Weinberg is a leading voice at the intersection of law, tech, and cultural access. As Executive Director of the Engelberg Center on Innovation ...

Local history is quickly becoming the front line of a battle to protect historical sites, jobs, stories and more. Ramin Ganeshram, Executive Director at the Westport Museum for History & Culture, joined me to chat about what local history sites can do to highlight the importance of their mission, and what community members can do to help out. We also discussed what the Westport Museum is doing to become a responsible and dedica...

What would it be like to get a postcard in the mail that tells you that someone who died in the Second World War resided in your home? That's what happened to Sara Nixon and I had to talk with her about it!

The "He Lived Where You Live" postcard campaign was an effort by the Juno Beach Centre to bring history to the doorstep of 1,945 Canadian homes. I asked Alexander Fitzgerald-Black, Executive Director of the Juno Beach Centre Ass...

The Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum is located just 20km north of Niagara Falls and has one of the best collections on local history that I have ever seen. Artefacts from Indigenous settlements to the present fill this museum and the staff is doing amazing work getting history out into the community. Tune into my conversation with Sarah Kaufman (CEO/Curator) and Shawna Jarman (Assistant Curator) as we explore the museum's initiatives an...

I was so pleased to be joined by Dr. Anne Fertig, creator and host of a new podcast series entitled Finding Jane Austen, produced by R2 Studios. Anne has an amazing background with all things Jane Austen including being one of the founders of Jane Austen & Co., which you can find online and listen in on some amazing conversations!

Anne stopped by to talk about podcasting, hosting in-person and live stream events, and more. You&...

Do you like hearing stories about young, ambitious Historians? Then you're going to love this episode! I was pleased to be joined by Cody Youngblood, Director of Historic Preservation & Collections at Patrick Henry’s Red Hill, located in Brookneal, Virginia.

Cody started making his mark in Public History in his mid-teens and hasn't stopped. From being the Museum Director of the home of George C. Marshall, to being a Collections...

How does the dark history of eugenics intersect with today's tech industry and the rise of "predatory data"? Tune in for a fascinating and crucial conversation with Anita Say Chan, author of Predatory Data: Eugenics in Big Tech and Our Fight for an Independent Future, as we delve into the connections between historical discriminatory practices and the algorithms that shape our lives. We explore how data exploitation e...

Are we witnessing a new digital dark age? The internet can be a great place to share thoughts and memories, but nothing you place online is guaranteed to be there in the future. Ian Milligan stopped by to chat about concepts and thoughts from his new book, Averting the Digital Dark Age, and offered a glimpse into our contemporary situation with digitally-based information.

With the deletion of various concepts, identities and ideas...

For the first episode of the new season of the podcast, I sat down with Matthew da Mota, senior research associate and program manager for the Global AI Risks Initiative at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. We discussed his opinion piece, "Libraries and Research Institutions Will Need Strong AI Governance," and advice he would share with students and librarians on AI usage and ethics.

This is an importa...

Frank Cirillo has given Civil War Era historians something fresh to ponder. Frank's book, The Abolitionist Civil War: Immediatists and the Struggle to Transform the Union (LSU Press), showcases how we must not make generalizations about a group and it's our job to look beyond what we tend to see in our research.

Frank highlights the various factions within the abolitionist movement before, during, and after the Civil War. ...

Step into the shadowy streets of foggy London as I speak with Simon Read, author of Scotland Yard (Pegasus Books). From the early 19th century to the eve of WWII, Scotland Yard revolutionized crime-solving with cutting-edge forensics, the first criminal profiles, and detective feats straight out of fiction. Simon used official case files, trial transcripts, and first-hand accounts to dive into notorious murders and landmark investi...

In this episode, we delve into Lori Ginzberg's newest book, "Tangled Journeys: One Family's Story and the Making of American History." Ginzberg unravels the complex history of the Cogdell-Sanders family, a story spanning generations and intertwining slavery, freedom, and the tangled web of history. From the forced enslavement of Sarah Martha Sanders in Charleston to her family's unexpected rise in Philadelphia, this episode explore...

For far too long, traditional historians have failed to engage with the impact video games can have on how we "see" the past. Patrick A. Lewis and James "Trae" Welborn III joined me for a live stream chat on my YouTube channel to discuss how games can be viewpoints into contemporary historical memory.

You can find their edited work, Playing at War: Identity and Memory in Civil War Video Games, wherever you purchase your favourite ...

Jim Ambuske, Co-Head of R2 Studios, joined me to discuss the latest in the world of podcasting. Storytelling in the digital age has never been more accessible or more easily created, and we chatted about all of these qualities and more. Jim brought up a lot of great points in this event and if you're a podcaster, or thinking of podcasting, I'm sure you'll get some value out of this.

You can see the video version of this chat on my...

Did you know that infamous American aviator, Charles Lindbergh, was one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's harshest critics before the Second World War? Lindbergh's beliefs about isolation and alliance with the America First movement put him in stark contrast with FDR.

Paul M. Sparrow, author of Awakening the Spirit of America: FDR's War of Words with Charles Lindbergh and the Battle to Save Democracy, joins me to discuss these ...

In this episode of the podcast, we delve into the life of David Henry White, a free Black sailor from Delaware who was kidnapped and forced into captivity on board the Confederate raider CSS Alabama.

Andrew's book, Kidnapped at Sea: The Civil War Voyage of David Henry White, is available from Johns Hopkin's University Press and is worthy of a thorough read. Pick up your copy today!

Don't forget to head over to thetattooedhistorian...