Shut-in project: learn more about American history
April 14, 2020 2:39 PM   Subscribe

Difficultly level: not a good autodidact.

I thought one of the things I might try and do rather than just sitting around feeling like the "This Is Fine" dog is try and make up for the fact that I hated history in school and was pretty bad at it. The reason this is not straightforward and I'm asking for wacky ideas is I'm not one of those skilled autodidacts.

My attention span for reading is bad, especially in a subject I'm less interested in that trying to interest myself in. I was bad enough at history in school that I have only a very fine outline to hang anything on.

I'm thinking....podcasts maybe. Are there podcasts on history that aren't "here are the crazy things you DIDN'T know about the Battle of Chickamauga, since obviously we all know the basics"?

I'm open to other ideas.
posted by less of course to Grab Bag (11 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: How do you feel about youtube videos? The Crash Course series on US History is a look at the basics, told in a fun way.
posted by tinymegalo at 2:57 PM on April 14, 2020 [5 favorites]


Hardcore history
posted by pyro979 at 3:02 PM on April 14, 2020


I hope someone will follow with specific recommendations but I have found fiction and primary sources to be a good entry into a period and rarely read "history" books. I read articles about the UK in WWII after reading Connie Willis' novels and about the medieval war between Stephen and Maude after reading the Brother Cadfael books. I have also read the Lewis and Clark report to Congress and am now reading Peter Kalm's journeys in America. It's slower than just trying to swallow a chunk of secondary history but it's a good way to discover the aspects that do hold your attention.
posted by Botanizer at 3:28 PM on April 14, 2020 [5 favorites]


Saying you want to learn about history is sort of like saying you want to learn about science, which means we can make lots of suggestions but there's so much terrain we're more likely to be able to get you something that rings your bell if you're a bit more specific.

Can you provide us with some more details? Such as geographic era and time period? Even stuff like "the United States after the Civil War" would be helpful. Or is there some kind of historical basis you'd like to understand current events? For example, if you want to understand the economic response to COVID? Then you probably want to get a handle on topics like the creation of the US social safety net, public health, and market economies.

If you really don't even know what you want to know, and want a very general introduction to tons of topics, I strongly recommend the Oxford's Very Short Introduction series, which I buy all the time to bone up on things like the Israeli/Palestianian conflict and the American Revolution. They are very short books that fit into a coat pocket and usually written by a scholar in the field but for a general audience. While they're still books, I feel like they are short enough (I kind of think of them as if wikipedia had book babies) to hold many fragmented attention spans.
posted by mostly vowels at 4:13 PM on April 14, 2020


Presidential podcast!
posted by chaiminda at 4:27 PM on April 14, 2020


Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the United States is 30 years old, but good up until that point. Nothing new has happened since then anyway.
posted by Sunburnt at 4:54 PM on April 14, 2020 [3 favorites]


Best answer: PBS series are incredible plus many of them are shorter than movie length. American experience is one I suggest. I have enjoyed learning about history a lot as an adult. Something I would have never done but is so fun to do with my kid...
We made a big timeline. Just paper taped together. Each book we read, documentary we saw, or subject we spoke about we put on the time line. I didn't know what year what vehicle was invented, or what disaster happened when, or what war ....
I felt like it took me 30 years to put it all together but it's nice to really get what was happening when, and how it affected the NEXT thing. It took me till I as about 40 to say... OOhhhh, I sorta get it now.
posted by ReluctantViking at 5:10 PM on April 14, 2020 [4 favorites]


It's not a podcast, but there's a really good history website I'd be remiss to not mention.
posted by history is a weapon at 6:58 PM on April 14, 2020


I have enjoyed The Great Courses, primarily as audio, although they also have video courses. One of my favorites is History of Science 1700 to 1900. Each lecture is about 30 minutes long. The lecturer was terrific. They have so many choices. Right now you can watch a 24 part course on infectious disease for free.
posted by Altomentis at 8:05 PM on April 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


A couple of podcasts we’ve found enjoyable (and well-researched) are Stuff You Missed In History Class and Uncivil.

We are currently supplementing teen distance learning with a few PBS series. Henry Louis Gates has several excellent series and the American focused one has Rivers in the title, and it’s engaging. Our youngest has a global course so we’ve viewed Great Civilizations which covers African history well. Ken Burns on the Roosevelts is content for turn of the century.
posted by childofTethys at 10:27 AM on April 15, 2020


I'd suggest listening to the audiobook of A People's History of the United States. I hated history in school too, and it was mostly because of the hagiographic way it was presented - Zinn will bring you some of the scandal and wrongdoing, which makes it more appealing to those of us not innately fascinated by say, details of battles.
posted by jocelmeow at 11:40 AM on April 15, 2020


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