e178. Pop History vs. Public History

Episode artwork for Pop History vs Public History

How do we learn history? The easy answer is to say we learn it from history books, but is that true? How many of us ever read a history book after 10th grade? It’s more likely that we get the majority of our history either from museums or from historic entertainment… things like Hamilton… or, perhaps you get your history from a place that is a combination of the two… living museums like Colonial Williamsburg. In a sense, there’s a split between public history and popular history. But what does that even mean? Is one better than the other? How do they inform each other? On this week’s episode, Monica, Mav and Wayne are joined by public historian and living history performer Emily Doherty to talk all about the split between the two, how we use history as entertainment and how we as readers and viewers take in the historical entertainment we consume. Listen and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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