One thing I'm learning from my YouTube experiment is that vlog-style videos are more complicated (for me) than I expected. At first my challenge was just getting my camera out and filming. I'm getting better at that, but I still can't find a decent flow with this type of video. I've tried fiddling with timing. I thought I'd do "a week in the life" vlogs, but learned quickly that sometimes my life is just hours at a computer, which is irrefutably boring. So then I tried doing monthly vlogs,...

The typical historian aesthetic may be a professor teaching classes and writing books, but the practice of history goes far beyond that. I've been encouraged by recent public interest in intellectualism and an increase in the people's interest in exploring topics and events that ignite their inquisitive fire. History organizations have an important role to play in facilitating this public discourse. The good news is that history organizations, including museums and historic sites, are...

Typically my annual book recommendations include at least one book, fiction or non, from American history. Not this year. My favorite reading this year was firmly set in England. Let's take a look at two books that, in 2025,  pulled me in and did not let go. Blood and Roses: One Family's Struggle and Triumph During the Tumultuous Wars of the Roses - Helen Castor "Paston Village, Norfolk. November 2004. A cold wind, heavy with salt, drags across the churchyard. The sea, less than a mile away,...