Cambridge American History Seminar Podcast

African American History

United Nations

Kashmir

Treaty Of Paris (1783)

War On Drugs

United States Army

Servants Of the Seasons

Migration

Consumer Capitalism

Seasonality

Black Women

Publishes	Twice monthly	Episodes	81	Founded	8 years ago
Number of Listeners		Category	Education

Listen to this Podcast

Guests Hosts Reviews Charts Talking Points

Latest Episodes

Prof. Christa Dierksheide & Prof. Nick Guyatt, ‘Jefferson’s Wolf: A Founding Father’s Troubling Answer to the Problem of Slavery’ (Harvard University Press, 2026)

“The wolf is a metaphor for race war, and we mean race war on a genocidal scale.”

We release this episode at a historic moment. This Saturday, 4 July 2026, marks the semiquincentennial of America's founding.

Few historians are better placed, with... more

4 Jul 2026 • 55 min • Most popular

Dr. Elsa Devienne, '"Paper or Plastic?": The Forgotten Movement to Ban Polystyrene in the US and the (Lost) Battle of Perception (1980s to today)'

“What happened? At one point, we were really close to banning polystyrene. What happened?”

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Elsa Devienne (Assistant Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Northumbria University), a scholar of the tw... more

24 Jun 2026 • 37 min

Dr. Caroline Johnston, 'Rocky Mountain Extractivism in Washington'

This episode explores ‘carbon cowboys,’ the creation of A Blueprint for Conservative Government (1980), and an emerging historical concept: ‘extractive-statism.’

Dr Caroline Johnston is a political, environmental, and economic historian of the moder... more

20 May 2026 • 41 min

Dr. Patrick Griffin, 'The American Revolution and Global Empire'

“Whether we like it or not, the American Revolution is kind of central to the idea of American civic life, and very central to American notions of sense of self. So, that's critical—and it has been that way consistently, really, since the time of the... more

13 May 2026 • 39 min

Key Facts

Accepts Guests

Contact Information

Podcast Host

Number of Listeners

Find out how many people listen to this podcast per episode and each month.

Similar Podcasts

People also subscribe to these shows.

Past Present FutureDavid Runciman

The Rest Is HistoryGoalhanger

The DailyThe New York Times

Strict ScrutinyStrict Scrutiny

Football WeeklyThe Guardian

Recent Guests

Dr. Elsa Devienne

Assistant Professor in the School of Arts and Social Sciences at Northumbria University; historian of 20th century United States

Northumbria University

Episode: Dr. Elsa Devienne, '"Paper or Plastic?": The Forgotten Movement to Ban Polystyrene in the US and the (Lost) Battle of Perception (1980s to today)'

Caroline Johnston

Mellon Research Fellow in American History at Cambridge; political, economic, and environmental historian

Cambridge University

Episode: Dr. Caroline Johnston, 'Rocky Mountain Extractivism in Washington'

Patrick Griffin

Madden-Hennebry Professor of History, University of Notre Dame; specialist in early America and Atlantic history

University of Notre Dame

Episode: Dr. Patrick Griffin, 'The American Revolution and Global Empire'

Beth Bailey

Pitt Professor, historian focusing on military history, gender, and sexuality in the U.S.

University of Kansas (former); Pitt Professor at Cambridge

Episode: Annual Pitt Professor Beth Bailey, 'Making Change: Why the US Army Matters'

David Farber

Roy A. and Distinguished Professor of History, University of Kansas; presenter of work on the history of drugs and drug policy in the U.S.

University of Kansas

Episode: Prof. David Farber, 'The War on Drugs'

Erin Shearer

Dr. Erin Shearer, Fellow in Residence at the Rosamere American Institute, University of Oxford

University of Oxford; University of Reading; University of Warwick

Episode: Dr. Erin Shearer, 'Enslaved Women, Infanticide, and a Feminist History of Harm: A New Direction in Slavery Studies'

Elijah Gould

Professor of History, leading scholar of the American Revolution

University of New Hampshire / Oxford (Vyvyan Harmsworth Professor)

Episode: Prof. Eliga Gould, 'Union and Disunion: The Turbulent History of the United States' Founding Treaty'

Kathleen Belew

Historian, author of Thoughts and Prayers: America in the Age of Mass Violence

Northwestern University

Episode: Dr. Kathleen Belew, ‘Thoughts and Prayers: America in the Age of Mass Violence’

Sam Lanevi

PhD candidate participating in the episode

Graduate student, unidentified program

Episode: Dr. Brenna Greer, 'African Americans and the Photographic Seat of Honour'

Hosts

Shea Hendry

Co-host/PhD candidate host with research-focused contributions

Megan Renoir

Host/PhD candidate; research on Indigenous sovereignty and relevant topics

Daisy Semmler

Producer and editor; introduces guests and guides questions

Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars from 15 ratings

One of the best
A hidden gem of the podcast world.
Apple Podcasts
5
rkoscwain
United Kingdoma year ago

Embed These Reviews on a Website

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Consistently well-produced with strong scholarly guests.

Thoughtful guests and questions that draw out archival insights.

One of the best in its field for rigorous history discussions.

High-quality host of research-interview style conversations.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts

#240

Poland/Education

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Dr. Kathleen Belew, ‘Thoughts and Prayers: America in the Age of Mass Violence’

Q: What are you going to be presenting on for the seminar today?

Belew outlines a project focused on how the phrase Thoughts and Prayers emerged from mass violence, especially starting with Columbine, and how social, religious, and political infrastructures shaped a widespread acceptance of school shootings as part of American life.

Dr. Kaeten Mistry, 'Exposure: How State Secret Disclosures Helped Construct and Undermine the Cold War Consensus'

Q: How do you connect historical secrecy dynamics to current debates around media, leaks, and the so-called deep state?

Mistry draws parallels between past exposure events and modern episodes (WikiLeaks, Snowden, 2016–21 media battles), suggesting that the relationship between media and power remains central to how secrecy is policed and perceived today.

Dr. Kaeten Mistry, 'Exposure: How State Secret Disclosures Helped Construct and Undermine the Cold War Consensus'

Q: What are some key moments in the chapter that illustrate how state secrecy has both protected and undermined state security?

Examples include Venona, the Pentagon Papers, and the postwar expansion of classification, which show that secrecy can shield government operations but also provoke leaks and legal challenges that expose contradictions in the regime.

Dr. Kaeten Mistry, 'Exposure: How State Secret Disclosures Helped Construct and Undermine the Cold War Consensus'

Q: Kaeten, can you introduce the broader book project and explain the central paradox you're tracing about secrecy in the United States?

Mistry explains that the project traces how openness gave way to an expansive secrecy regime, culminating in billions of classified documents and a powerful national security state, while still being shaped by crises around disclosure and public accountability.

Special Episode - Prof. Mia Bay - Her career and vision as the new Paul Mellon Professor

Q: So you've mentioned several of your books; what work do you feel represents you as a researcher?

She notes that each book has been a different experience, from writing a traditional biography to Travelling Black written chapter by chapter, highlighting how her methods and focus evolved with each project and how engagement with colleagues shaped her work.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About This Podcast

What is This Podcast about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A rigorous history-focused series that brings scholars and graduate students into sustained dialogues about American history in a global context. Guests often dissect imperial networks, constitutional revolutions, social change, race and gender, and public policy through archival work, comparative perspectives, and methodological debates. Episodes tend to blend deep subject-matter expertise with accessible storytelling, archival anecdotes, and reflections on contemporary relevance. Noteworthy is the program's consistent involvement of leading historians and doctoral researchers hosted in Cambridge, with a strong emphasis on public-facing scholarship and cross-continental scholarship that makes complex histories approachable for educated, is... more

Where can I find podcast stats for this podcast?

Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to this podcast and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.

How many listeners does this podcast get?

Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for this podcast, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.

What are the audience demographics for this podcast?

Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for this podcast, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.

How many subscribers and views does this podcast have?

To see how many followers or subscribers this podcast has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to this podcast?

These podcasts share a similar audience with this podcast:

1. Past Present Future
2. The Rest Is History
3. The Daily
4. Strict Scrutiny
5. Football Weekly

How many episodes of this podcast are there?

this podcast launched 8 years ago and published 81 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact this podcast?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for this podcast?

Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for this podcast from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.

View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.

How do I access podcast episode transcripts for this podcast?

Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of this podcast. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.

What guests have appeared on this podcast?

Recent guests on this podcast include:

1. Dr. Elsa Devienne
2. Caroline Johnston
3. Patrick Griffin
4. Beth Bailey
5. David Farber
6. Erin Shearer
7. Elijah Gould
8. Kathleen Belew

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

Find and pitch the right podcasts

We help savvy brands, marketers and PR professionals to find the right podcasts for any topic or niche. Get the data and contacts you need to pitch podcasts at scale and turn listeners into customers.

Try it free for 7 days