Interview: Eric Yanis of the Other States of America History Podcast

The History of the Americans

This is our one hundredth episode, at least by some counts, and also our first interview. Eric Yanis, the creator and host of The Other States of America History Podcast, agreed to be our first interviewee. We chatted about a wide range of subjects, including: How the pandemic motivated both of us to start our podcasts; Eric on teaching middle schoolers in New York during the pandmic; The different ways in which we put together our episodes; The rapidly declining interest in history among college undergraduates and some of its causes, including the de-emphasis of history in primary and middle schools; Middle schoolers today have almost no exposure to history before the sixth grade -- "kids today" have not even heard of "teepees"; How interest in history rises as we age - "People become more interested in history the more history they have"; Should history podcasters be intimated by academic historians, and should academics be more supportive of popular history, even if it offends their professional sensibilities? "The zone where lives can live"; A digression on the historiography of the Popham/Sagadahoc Colony and the reasons for its failure; Our fantasy pub crawl with figures from sixteenth and seventeenth century America, assuming a universal translator; Things we hear from listeners; The competing claims for the inspiration of Shakespeare's "The Tempest"; Eric discusses the legacy of New Netherland in our language, our celebration of Christmas, and in our national self-image as a "melting pot"; So maybe I should publish the podcast on YouTube. This was fun, and I hope you all enjoyed it. For those of you listening along in real time, may the season be filled with happiness, and may you give and receive excellent history books! Jack on Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2 Eric on Twitter: @OtherStatesPod The Other States of America Podcast (Apple podcast link)