Drafting the Past

This episode's guest and I share a last name (no relation, though), but that's not the only thing we have in common. We both grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where our history education left out most of the violence by white settlers against the region's Indigenous people. It was his righteous anger over the differences between what he had learned and what he read in the archives that prompted my guest today to write first a dissertation and now a book about that violence and the efforts of historians to cover it up. You're listening to Drafting the Past, a podcast about the craft of writing history. I'm Kate Carpenter, and in this episode I'm joined by Dr. Marc James Carpenter. Marc is an associate professor at the University of Jamestown in North Dakota. His first book, out with Yale University Press, is The War on Illahee: Genocide, Complicity, and Cover-Ups in the Pioneer Northwest. I was delighted to have him on the show to talk more about how he dealt with layers of deceptive source material, the research loops he employed to work through those sources, and how a dash of humor is a vital ingredient in this and other dark histories. Here's my conversation with Dr. Marc James Carpenter. Want to give me a little holiday gift this year? Consider taking a minute to leave a review for the show on your favorite podcast app. It helps new people find the show, and it makes me do a little happy dance in my office. Note that bookshop.org links are affiliate links that generate a small commission to support the show if you purchase books using these links. For links to the books we talked about and a complete transcript, visit draftingthepast.com. Sign up for the Drafting the Past newsletter for updates on the show and more.  

Fair warning, listeners: in this episode of Drafting the Past, my guest and I geeked out pretty hard for a minute about our favorite pens. I'm hoping a lot of you can relate, but if not, you'll just have to forgive our moment of office supply nerdiness. I'm Kate Carpenter, the host of this podcast about the craft of writing history. In this episode, I'm thrilled to be joined by Karin Wulf. Karin is a historian and the current director and librarian of the John Carter Brown Library, as well as a professor at Brown University. Previously, she was the director of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. She writes and speaks regularly for public audiences. Her new book, Lineage: Genealogy and the Politics of Connection in British America, 1680-1820, came out this summer. In this episode, you'll hear me talk with Karin about what it was like to research a book whose sources were scattered in many different archives, and how she keeps her research and writing alive even in the midst of a very busy schedule. She also told me about a little archival challenge that she likes to give herself that I think will make you smile. Let's be real, we're all nerds here, at least when it comes to history. Note that bookshop.org links are affiliate links that generate a small commission to support the show if you purchase books using these links. For links to the books we talked about and a complete transcript, visit draftingthepast.com. Sign up for the Drafting the Past newsletter for updates on the show and more.  

I've heard from many academics that writing their second book can be even harder than writing their first book. That might be surprising, especially if you're still struggling with the first book. But with less free time and without the support of a dissertation adviser, some historians find that second book to be more challenging than they expected. But today's guest turned that struggle into an opportunity for herself and other writers by launching a workshop specifically for writers of second books. I'm Kate Carpenter, and this is Drafting the Past, a podcast about the craft of writing history. In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Jessica Lepler. Jess is an associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire. Her first prize-winning book was The Many Panics of 1837: People, Politics, and the Creations of a Transatlantic Financial Crisis. Her second book came out this year. It's called Canal Dreamers: The Epic Quest to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific in the Age of Revolutions. It's a history of the ultimately failed effort to build the world's first interoceanic canal in the 1820s. Even though it was published a decade after her first book, I was surprised to learn that she actual started working on it alongside her dissertation and first book. We talk more about that research process in our interview. You'll also hear more about starting a second-book workshop, and why some of her best ideas come in the swimming pool. For links to the books we talked about and a complete transcript, visit draftingthepast.com. Sign up for the Drafting the Past newsletter for updates on the show and more.   Note that bookshop.org links are affiliate links that generate a small commission to support the show if you purchase books using these links.  

I've talked to many historians who have interviewed sources in order to write their histories over more than 70 episodes of Drafting the Past, but I don't think any has spent quite as much time getting to know their subject in person as today's guest. I'm Kate Carpenter, and in this episode I'm joined by Dr. Mary Frances Phillips to talk about her first book, Black Panther Woman: The Political and Spiritual Life of Ericka Huggins. Mary is an associate professor of African American studies at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and considers herself a historian and scholar-activist. Black Panther Woman is the first biography of Black Panther Party member Ericka Huggins, emphasizing Huggins' use of spiritual wellness practices to care for herself and her community during her unjust incarceration and following her release.  Mary and I talked about what it was like to write a book about a subject she had gotten to know so well. And while Black Panther Woman shared a subject with Mary's dissertation, in many ways it was an entirely different project. We talked about that change, how she keeps a sense of joy and play in her writing even when the subject is difficult, and I pushed for details on her accountability system, because I know many of us could use ideas for keeping our writing projects on track. For links to the books we talked about and a complete transcript, visit draftingthepast.com. Sign up for the Drafting the Past newsletter for updates on the show and more. Note that bookshop.org links are affiliate links that generate a small commission to support the show if you purchase books using these links.

Historians never quite know what kind of discoveries will enable them to write a history. For today's guest, the list of things that contributed to his most recent book included a long-shot grant proposal, an elementary school fundraiser, and the rise of digitized genealogical records. On this episode of Drafting the Past, Kate spoke with Dr. Tyler Anbinder. Tyler is an emeritus professor history at George Washington University. He is the award-winning author of four books, including Five Points: The Nineteenth-Century New York City Neighborhood that Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum, and City of Dreams: The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York. His most recent book, which came out last year, is Plentiful Country: The Great Potato Famine and the Making of Irish New York. You'll hear Tyler talk about how each of his research projects led to the next, how he works to blend remarkable detail with compelling writing, and how he tries to teach writing skills to his students—including one featured on a previous episode of Drafting the Past. We also talked about the humbling process of having his book reviewed by a fact checker. For show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit DraftingthePast.com. Note: Bookshop.org links are affiliate links. If you purchase books through these links, Drafting the Past gets a small percentage that helps to keep the show going.

Even though Dr. Joanne Paul had wanted to be a writer for a long time, she had lost sight of that identity and had to find her way back to it. But now, she has embraced creativity and imagination as a historian, and is here to encourage you to do the same. I was thrilled to be joined in this episode by Dr. Joanna Paul. Joanne is a historian of the Renaissance and Early modern periods, especially of their political, intellectual, and cultural histories. In addition to two academic books, she is the author of two books for a general audience. The first The House of Dudley, was published in 2022. It follows the Dudley family's history alongside that of the Tudors, telling the story of the family's proximity to the throne and, as she puts it, "revealing some of the period's most talented, intelligent, and cunning individuals." Her most recent book, out this year, is Thomas More: A Life and Death in Tudor England. In it, she tells the story of one of the most infamous figures in English history in a fascinating biography on this complicated man. I can tell you that both of these books are genuine page-turners, and I loved getting to ask Joanne more about how she wrote them. For links to the books and other subjects mentioned in this episode and a complete transcript, visit draftingthepast.com.

How do you write a history if you're not quite sure which—if any—of your sources is telling the truth? All historians have to deal with sources who exaggerate, or mislead, or just come from differing perspectives. But my guest in this episode had to wrestle with this question on a whole different level for his newest book. Were his subjects performing miracles, or conning people with magic tricks? And in the end, does it really matter? This is Drafting the Past, a podcast about the craft of writing history. I'm Kate Carpenter, and in today's episode I'm joined by Dr. Raphael Cormack. Raph is an editor, writer, and translator, as well as an assistant professor of modern languages and cultures at Durham University in the United Kingdom. He is the author of two books. The first, Holy Men of the Electromagnetic Age: A Forgotten History of the Occult in 2021 and is now available in paperback. And his newest book, out earlier this year, is Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt's Roaring '20s. In it, he follows two charismatic and mysterious faith leaders who emerged in the uncertain interwar period in both Europe and the Middle East. We talked about how he dealt with those deeply unreliable sources, why the narrative structure that came so easily to one book didn't work for the second one, and, well, his mother. You'll see what I mean.  For complete show notes, visit draftingthepast.com. For updates on the show and more on writing history, sign up for the Drafting the Past newsletter.

I talk to a lot of history professors on this show, of course, but I'm always excited when I get a chance to talk to someone who is writing great history but working outside of a university setting. And my guest today didn't even start out as a historian, she found her way to narrative history after writing in other genres and venues first. Dr. Tracy Slater joins me in this episode to talk about her path as a writer and the challenges and freedoms of writing outside the academy while also balancing the work of a caregiver. Tracy has a PhD in English and American literature. You'll hear more about her career path shortly, which includes some adjunct teaching, a freelance writing career, and founding a literary series called Four Stories that took place in both Boston and Japan, where Tracy is now based with her family, although she was temporarily living in Toronto when I spoke with her this summer. Her first book was a memoir about her marriage, her struggle to start a family, and establishing a life in Japan called The Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self, and Home on the Far Side of the World. Her newest book is a work of narrative history called Together in Manzanar: The True Story of a Japanese Jewish Family in an American Concentration Camp. It's a history that is both intimate and expansive and, unfortunately, continues to have increasingly relevant connections to our present-day experiences. For complete show notes, visit DraftingthePast.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please tell a friend about it!  

This is Drafting the Past, a podcast about the craft of writing history, and I'm your host, Kate Carpenter. In each episode, I'm joined by a historian to dig into their writing process and find out how they bring history to the page. This time around, I'm happy to get to chat with Dr. Andrew Hartman. Dr. Andrew Hartman is a professor of history at Illinois State University. Before that, as you'll learn in this episode, he was a high school social studies teacher, and he specializes in teaching future social studies teachers. He is the author of three books: Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School; A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars; and his newest book, Karl Marx in America. He has also written extensively in publications like the Washington Post, Slate, Jacobin, Bookforum, and more. You'll hear how Andrew tackled such a huge project, a decade in the making, how he became a subject in his own history, and why being an endurance athlete might help if you're a writer.  Find show notes and a transcript here.

In this episode, I'm thrilled to be joined by historian Dr. Ruby Lal.  When I first started thinking about this interview more than a year ago, I read Ruby's book Vagabond Princess: The Great Adventures of Gulbadan. I was swept away by the book, which is a history biography of Princess Gulbadan in the early decades of the Mughal Empire. Ruby is also the author of Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jahan, another remarkable narrative about a remarkable woman in the Mughal Empire. But before I had a chance to interview her, Ruby came out with another project: Tiger Slayer, which she describes as an illustrated remix of Empress for a young adult audience. I can't tell you how excited I was to talk about all of these projects, and how Ruby brings these narratives from hundreds of years ago to life in such vibrant, enchanting books.  Dr. Ruby Lal is a professor of South Asian History at Emory University. In addition to the books I've already mentioned, she is also the author of two academic books, Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World, and Coming of Age in Nineteenth Century India: The Girl-Child and the Art of Playfulness. And as you'll hear in the episode, she thinks deeply and beautifully about crafting historical narrative and the stakes of bringing these stories to readers of all ages.

Stephanie Gorton is a writer, editor, and journalist whose work has been published in a range of outlets including The New Yorker, Smithsonian, and Paris Review Daily. She has worked in editorial roles at several independent presses, and her first book came out in 2020, titled Citizen Reporters: S. S. McClure, Ida Tarbell, and the Magazine that Rewrote America. Her second book, which came out in November, is The Icon and the Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry that Brought Birth Control to America. It's a fascinating dual biography that brings to life two complicated leaders of the birth control movement in the early 1900s, and the lasting impact of their actions and interactions. We spoke early this year, and I loved getting to hear more about Stephanie's research and writing process, especially how she thought about narrative structure and revising with feedback.

In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Padraic Scanlan. Padraic is an associate professor at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on the history of labor in Britain and the British empire. He's the author of three books, including Freedom's Debtors: British Antislavery in Sierra Leone in the Age of Revolutions and Slave Empire: How Slavery Made Modern Britain. His newest book, out this year, is called Rot: An Imperial History of the Irish Famine, and it offers a reinterpretation of the Irish Great Famine of the mid-1800s that shows how massive income inequality, debt, housing prices, precarious employment and more contributed to the disaster. I spoke with Padraic about how he thinks about writing for a general audience, his work with a developmental editor and why he loves editors, and his writerly inspirations.

Drafting the Past is a show about the craft of writing history, hosted by historian and writer Kate Carpenter. In this episode, Kate is joined by historian Dr. Omar Valerio-Jiménez. Omar is a professor of history at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he is also an associate dean for graduate studies. He originally worked as an engineer before going back to school to become a historian. His work focuses on histories of Mexican American civil rights, citizenship, education, and memory. His first book was called River of Hope: Forging Identity and Nation in the Rio Grande Borderlands, and his second book, which is the focus of this interview, is Remembering Conquest: Mexican Americans, Memory, and Citizenship. Remembering Conquest explores the collective memories of the U.S.-Mexico War and how those memories motivated civil rights campaigns among several generations of Mexican Americans. Omar is a pleasure to speak with, and his thoughtful approach to his work came through in our conversation. Keep an ear out especially for his work log system, which I might have to try out myself.

Welcome back to Drafting the Past, a podcast where we talk all about the craft of writing history. I'm Kate Carpenter and for this episode, I'm delighted to be joined on the podcast by Dr. Emily Herring. As you'll hear, I've been following Emily's career for a while now, and I was eager to ask about her first book and her shift from academia to full-time writing. Her book is called Herald of a Restless World: How Henri Bergson Brought Philosophy to the People. It's an intellectual biography of philosopher Henri Bergson, who achieved remarkable fame in the early 1900s, and it's a genuinely fascinating and pleasurable read. Let's dig into it. Here's my interview with Dr. Emily Herring. Buy Emily's book Find links and show notes at draftingthepast.com Support the show on Patreon Sign up for the free show newsletter  

Welcome back to Drafting the Past. I'm Kate Carpenter, and this is a podcast about the craft of writing history. In this episode, I'm joined by historian and writer Dr. Surekha Davies. Surekha is a former history professor who now writes full-time, and she can also be found speaking about history and consulting on monsters. In fact, monsters have played a major role in much of her research. Her first award-winning book was titled Renaissance Ethnography and the Invention of the Human: New Worlds, Maps, and Monsters. Her second book, which is aimed at a general audience, is out now; it's called Humans: A Monstrous History. The book looks at, as she puts it, how people "have defined the human in relation to everything from apes to zombies, and how they invented race, gender, and nations along the way." I spoke with Surekha about how she made the switch to full-time writing, her newsletter, Notes from an Everything Historian, and how she organized what could have been an unruly book. Enjoy my conversation with Dr. Surekha Davies.

In this episode of Drafting the Past, host Kate Carpenter is joined by historian Dr. Lyndal Roper. Lyndal is a professor at the University of Oxford and the author of six books on gender, religion, witchcraft, and German history. Her newest book out this year is a history of the sixteenth-century German Peasants' War titled Summer of Fire and Blood. The book follows the movement, beliefs, hopes, and actions of the peasants in this mass uprising. I loved the opportunity to talk with Lyndal about how she wrote about such a massive and relatively obscure event for a general audience, the way her own movement across the land shaped her work, why she prefers the screen to the handwritten page, and much more.

In this episode of Drafting the Past, host Kate Carpenter is joined by Dr. Judith Giesberg. Dr. Giesberg is a historian and professor at Villanova University. She is the author of six books focused on the U.S. Civil War and its aftermath. She is also an active digital and public historian, and her newest book is the culmination of these interests. Inspired by an ongoing digital project, Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families draws on advertisements placed by formerly enslaved people after the Civil War—in some cases, long after—attempting to find loved ones who had been stolen away from them when they were sold by enslavers. It's a fascinating book, at turns heartbreaking and inspiring, and I was delighted to get to ask Judy more about the project and her research process.

In this episode Kate is joined by writer and historian Dr. Rebecca Brenner Graham. Rebecca is a post-doctoral research associate at Brown University, but before that she taught high school history, an experience that we talk a lot more about in this episode. Her first book, out now, is called Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins's Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany, and it is not only a compelling history but holds valuable lessons for readers now. I also asked Rebecca to dig into her approach for publicizing a recently released book, and I think her advice will be a big help for other authors.

This is Drafting the Past, a podcast about the craft of writing history. In this episode, host Kate Carpenter is joined by historian Dr. Marlene Daut. Marlene is a professor at Yale University and is the author of four books, as well as an editor of several more. The most recent two of those books are Awakening the Ashes: An Intellectual History of the Haitian Revolution, which was a winner of the 2024 Frederick Douglass Book Prize, and The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe. She is also the author of many articles and essays in places like The New Yorker, Harper's, Essence, The Nation, and more. Our conversation covers some burning questions about Marlene's work, including how she works on more than one book at a time, why you might find her typing into her phone at the grocery store, and she is inspired by the work of investigative journalists. Enjoy Kate's conversation with Dr. Marlene Daut.

In this episode, host Kate Carpenter is joined by Dr. James Tejani. James is an associate professor of history at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. His first book, A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth: The Making of the Port of Los Angeles—and America came out last year with Norton, and it's a fascinating history that covers Western settlement, slavery, the Civil War, science and engineering, and much more. Our interview ranges from how Tejani came to think of himself as a writer to how developing tendonitis changed his writing practice.