Episode 58: Scott Spillman on the Possibility of a Collective Understanding of History

Welcome back to Yeah, I Got a F#%*ing Job With a Liberal Arts Degree, a show that takes a deep look at the humanities and higher education more generally. Join professor of history and humanities Dean Jeff Crane as he interviews a range of guests about the value of the liberal arts and education as a personal and public good. 

Today's guest is Scott Spillman, an American historian and the author of the book Making Sense of Slavery: America’s Long Reckoning, from the Founding Era to Today (2025). His essays and reviews have appeared in The Point, Liberties, The New Yorker, The New Republic, n+1, the Chronicle Review, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, and he has published academic articles in Reviews in American History, History of Education Quarterly, and North Carolina Historical Review. Scott has a PhD in history from Stanford University, and before that he studied history, English, and political philosophy at the University of North Carolina and Duke University. And he serves as the Chair of Leadville, Colorado’s historic preservation committee. He is on the show to discuss his writings and critiques, the role of historians at this moment in time and Leadville's unique historical standing.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music by Silverman Sound Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job with a Liberal Arts Degree is produced by Abigail Smithson

This show is created and supported by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt as is recorded on campus in wonderful Arcata, California.