From Here to History
The history podcast where Chris Swanson and Jason Weidert discuss events and people of the past with as much openness, understanding, and fairness as we can muster. Our only agenda is to inform in an entertaining and engaging way.
We teach high school, after all, and that's a tough audience. Our hope is that if we can keep teenagers interested we may be able to pull off a worthwhile podcast, too.
We try to release one episode every month. But we're teachers with busy young families so if we go a little longer than that between episodes, bear with us!
Episodes
31 episodes
The Comanches, Pt 4: Until Day Breaks
The Comanche peaked and then fell in the decades between 1840 and 1880. In this episode, we discuss that story arc. From the Comanche retaliation against Texas for the Council House Massacre, through a brief peace with the Texans, drought and d...
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Episode 31
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3:02:09
The Comanches, Pt 3: Confluence and Collision
In the third episode of our series on the Comanche, Comancheria slowly divorces itself from New Spain to seek better fortunes in the bustling American markets. The Mexican government inherits a troubled border in Texas and disastrously mi...
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Episode 30
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1:46:29
Halloween Special: Ghosts of Tragedies Past
Just in time for Halloween! Join Chris and Jason as they discuss two historic sites that are reputed to be haunted: Poveglia Island in the Venetian Lagoon and Greyfriars Kirkyard in Old Town Edinburgh. Are the tortured souls in their tragic pas...
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Episode 29
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2:25:14
The Comanches, Pt 2: War and Peace
The Comanche entered the southern great plains slowly and imperceptibly, ultimately to find themselves one part of a very restless world. There were imperial tensions between European powers, as well as ancient rivalries and territorial ambitio...
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Episode 28
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1:10:23
The Comanches, Pt 1: Coming of the Numunu
"They came to the plains from the west, slipping through the canyon passes of the Sangre de Cristo Range in small, roving bands...They were few in number, possessed little wealth...New Mexico's Spanish officials noted their arrival to the south...
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Episode 27
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1:20:12
The Zulu Nation, Pt 4: Fall of the House of Shaka
Lord Chelmsford, looking to redeem himself from his failed first invasion, crosses into Zululand in force for a second attempt. Pressure on Chelmsford mounts as Field Marshal Garnet Wolseley races to South Africa to assume full command. C...
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Episode 26
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1:04:40
The Zulu Nation, Pt 3: Invasion
In this episode on the Zulu nation, we discuss Cetshwayo's violent march to the Zulu throne, his cozying up to the British as a bulwark against the Boers, and then the inexplicable events that thrust his people into a war with England. As the E...
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Episode 25
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2:09:20
The Zulu Nation, Pt 2: We Three Kings
The Zulu nation as we remember it was forged in a world of upheaval under the leadership of the intelligent, dynamic, and ruthless king Shaka Kasenzangakhona. Shaped by the tumultuous events known as the Mfecane, Shaka imposed and maintained a ...
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Episode 24
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1:41:53
The Zulu Nation, Pt 1
We took a holiday hiatus but we're back with the first in a 3-part series on the most dominant tribal nation in 18th-century South Africa: The Zulus. In this episode, we range from their Bantu origins to the emergence of Shaka and his military ...
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Episode 23
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1:31:04
Halloween Special: Adventures in Exorcism
In From Here to History's first ever Halloween episode, spirits, demons, and the bodies they try to possess are the topic. Join Chris and Jason as they discuss an anthology of stories and beliefs about possession and exorcism from across ...
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Episode 22
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3:29:09
The Rise and Fall of the Neo-Assyrians
The Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III inaugurated the golden age of his empire's power between 745 and 727 BC. Just over a century later, Sin-Summu-Ishkin watched as that empire took its dying breaths. It was a meteoric rise and cataclysmic fal...
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Episode 21
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1:39:37
The Ancient Assyrians
Massive statues of winged bulls with human heads, stone reliefs depicting gruesome lion hunts and mass executions of captured soldiers, ancient history's most impressive library, kings with complex names, the famous Lost Tribes of Israel. All o...
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Episode 20
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1:10:53
This is Sparta, Part 2
One episode just wasn't enough to capture the Spartans, so we settled on two episodes. Now, looking back, two episodes probably weren't enough, either. They were a major force in the ancient Greek world for nearly half a millennium, but eventua...
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Episode 19
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1:28:16
This is Sparta
They were controversial in their own time as well as ours. A society capable of impressive discipline and moments of jaw-dropping heroism. They were also a rigidly hierarchical culture who could use brutal suppression to maintain their preferre...
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Episode 18
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1:02:40
The March Madness of History: And the Winner is...
Back in March we hosted our second annual tournament of history on our campus. Styled after the NCAA March Madness tournament, our students considered 16 names and voted their way to a champion. Last year the tournament was about the greatest U...
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Episode 17
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31:32
Big War, Small Town
The Vietnam War era is often remembered as the most divisive conflict in US history. In classes across the US students will learn about the draft, the internal divisions in the US over civil rights, imperialism, and the Cold War. Those are all ...
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Episode 16
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1:09:47
The Seven Wonders, addendum
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still interest and inspire us today. In this episode we reflect on our tour of the Wonders with a few footnotes to wrap up the trip. Then we take a look at a few modern structures and natural feature...
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Episode 15
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42:29
The March Madness of History: Women's History Month Edition
It's that time of year when much of the US goes a little crazy with bracket fever: the NCAA tournament. In 2022 we tried our hand at a March Madness of US presidents and this year we're trying a tournament again. But the 2023 edition will...
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Episode 14
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1:16:34
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Pt 4
DISCLAIMER! If you're listening to this episode, first, thank you! But second, this is an early episode. It was recorded and edited when we really didn't know what we were doing. We've gotten a lot better since then so, please, bear with us! We...
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Episode 13
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1:16:02
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Pt 3
DISCLAIMER! If you're listening to this episode, first, thank you! But second, this is an early episode. It was recorded and edited when we really didn't know what we were doing and our sound quality was very lacking. We've gotten a lot better ...
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Episode 12
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1:16:50
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Pt 2
DISCLAIMER! If you're listening to this episode, first, thank you! But second, this is an early episode. It was recorded and edited when we really didn't know what we were doing and our sound quality was very lacking. We've gotten a lot better ...
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Episode 11
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1:07:51
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Pt 1
DISCLAIMER! If you're listening to this episode, first, thank you! But second, this is an early episode. It was recorded and edited when we really didn't know what we were doing and our sound quality was very lacking. We've gotten a lot better ...
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52:35
The Battle of Kursk, Pt 4
DISCLAIMER! If you're listening to this episode, first, thank you! But second, this is an early episode. It was recorded and edited when we really didn't know what we were doing and our sound quality was very lacking. We've gotten a lot better ...
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Episode 9
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43:54