Ben Franklin + Music = ?

My podcast is in development and I need your help. Presently, I am taking a month-long course with Jeff Brown to learn more about podcast intros, outros, and how to conduct interviews so that my listeners will feel like they are part of the conversation.

I am also finalizing the format of my show, which I am still tentatively calling “Ben Franklin’s World: A Podcast About Early American History.”

Segments for "Ben Franklin's World"

I have devised 4 different segments for the show outside of an introduction and concluding remarks.

1. Discovery: A brief segment where I will discuss any fascinating historical discoveries that I have made.

2. Interview/Historical Monologue: This will be the "meat" of the show. I will interview an historian who has conducted (or is conducting) fascinating research about important episodes and people in early American history.

Alternatively, some shows will feature me discussing a captivating story from my own historical research.

3. Time Warp: A post-interview segment where I will ask the interviewee a hypothetical history question for fun.

4. Ask the Historian: A segment where I will answer listener questions about early American history.

Music

One aspect of the show that has me befuddled is the music.

I want to have background music play during my intro and outro segments, which leads me to the question I posed in my title: Ben Franklin + Music = ?

Questions

What kind of music do you associate with Ben Franklin or early American history in general?

What type of music would you expect to hear on a podcast about early American history?

What type of music would draw you into the podcast?

I want to find music that fits the subject of early American history and yet also proclaims that this is “not another boring history podcast.”

Please leave a comment, send an e-mail, or tweet me with your ideas about possible genres and artists or if you have general suggestions/comments/questions about "Ben Franklin's World."

Why I Want to Start a Podcast

Over the last 9 months or so my brain has been stuck on the idea that I want to start a podcast. The podcast provides a perfect medium to convey historical knowledge to a wide audience and for research-driven historians to interact with the larger public.

In this post you will learn why I think starting a podcast is a good idea and about the work I need to do before I launch one.

I hope you will read this post to the end as my idea still needs refining and I could really use your feedback on it.

Why A Podcast?

Social media authorities such as Michael Stelzner have declared 2014 to be the “Year of the Podcast.”

Why?

In 2014, smartphone ownership by adults will increase to over 50%. Additionally, smartphone manufacturers and app providers such as Apple and Google are making it easier for smartphone owners to find, subscribe to, and download podcasts.*

Podcasts allow listeners to create a customized radio station that will always play topics they find interesting on a schedule that conforms to their needs.

There’s An Interest in History

People are interested in history.

As History Camp, C-Span’s American History TV, and the many television shows based in historical periods (Downtown Abbey, Mr. Selfridge, Turn, Outlander, and Sleepy Hollow, to name but a few) demonstrate, people want to interact with and learn more about their history.

History Camp and American History TV, in particular, also show that history lovers want to interact and connect with historians.

The podcast market underserves these history-minded people.

A Problem with Format

Over the last 9 months, I have been thinking about how I can start a podcast that showcases well-researched, historical narratives about early American history.

Initially, I toyed with the idea of presenting 15-20 minute narratives. I have a stack of ideas about mining my American History survey lecture notes, dissertation chapters, and freelance article research for stories and information.

However, I know that 15-20 minutes of speaking equals about 10-12 pages of text.

The most successful podcasts release a minimum of 26 shows a year; a new show every 2 weeks.

This production schedule makes my initial format unsustainable. I want to produce a podcast, but I also want time to work on my other projects, such as my book.

Additionally, my research is narrower than most people’s interests.

Many of my shows would focus on the history of upstate New York or Boston, the areas I have researched over the last 14 years. In the future, they would become Connecticut and Revolutionary War centric as my next project will take me into both of those areas.

My podcast has to be more expansive than my own research to attract a wide audience.

Eureka! My Plan

After wrestling with these thoughts, the solution finally came to me last week: An interview-focused podcast with occasional historical narratives written by me.

As you know, I am passionate about making well-researched history accessible for everyone. It frustrates me that too many of our colleagues do not make enough attempts or time to share their wonderful and important research with non-academics.

My solution of an interview-based podcast will allow me to help historians engage with the public.

My interviews will focus on their research and new books. It will allow interviewed historians to advertise their work and explain to non-academics why their work matters and why it is worthy of their attention.

As the interviewer, I can can ask my guests questions that will encourage them to share their information through the engaging examples and characters they use in their books, articles, and dissertations.

I also hope my podcast will expand our discussions of history.

I plan to interview academic historians, librarians and archivists, museum professionals, historians at historical societies, and independent historians.

Work to Do

Now that I have found a solution to my format problem, I am motivated to work on launching my podcast, which I have tentatively titled: “Ben Franklin’s World.”

I plan to interpret “Ben Franklin’s World” broadly.

Born in 1706, Franklin was a world traveler and consummate learner. Franklin helped found the United States and influenced technological developments after his death.

The podcast will center on early American history. I believe that the spirit of Ben Franklin will allow me to cover important issues in Atlantic History, European History, and North American History between the 17th and early 19th centuries.

I have a lot of work before I release my first episode.

First, I must take the video course I purchased on how to edit, tag, and publish podcast files using GarageBand.

Second, I need to brainstorm a list of interviewees.

Third, I need to schedule and conduct Interviews.

Fourth, I need to create 3-6 months worth of episodes before I release the first 5 episodes.

There are also a lot of other smaller tasks that I must research and do before I launch.

I would like to release my podcast before the end of the year.

What Do You Think?

What do you think about my podcast idea?

Do you like my title “Ben Franklin’s World?” Do you have a suggestion for a different title?

Would you like to help or be on the show?  

Send me an e-mail, tweet, or leave a comment.

*Links to podcasts about podcasts where you will find some fascinating statistics: "Interview with Michael Wolf of NextMarket Podcast" and "Interview with Podcasters Michael Hyatt and Chris Brogan."

Getting to the Malleable PhD

In January 2014, I participated on the “Getting to the Malleable PhD” panel at the annual meeting of the American Association Historical Association. Jacqueline Jones organized the panel, which consisted of myself, Walter M. Licht (University of Pennsylvania), Ramona Houston (Scholar and Consultant), and R. Darrell Meadows (Kentucky Historical Society).

Each panelist offered a personal narrative.

Some offered policy proposals and critiques about graduate eduction.

I tried to keep my presentation practical.

Recap of My Presentation

I began my talk by offering a couple of confessions:

First, I am still in the process of making my PhD malleable. I do not have any concrete answers for how to make a living as an independent historian, yet.

Second, I have the luxury of being able to take my time and figure out what career path will work best for me because I have spousal support.

My partner Tim has a great job; he works for Google. He is incredibly supportive and has the patience of a saint. Tim helped me through graduate school and now he is content to let me explore how I can create a career as an independent historian. I do not know how I got so lucky in life, but I am grateful for it.

Next, I discussed how I work as an historian and writer and dabble in entrepreneurship.

Finally, I talked about what I wish I had known at the beginning of my transition out of academia.

 3 Things I Wish I Had Known When I Started to Leave Academia

1. Nearly every person who leaves academia experiences a similar period of transition

Step 1. Depression and Mourning

Even if you don't want a traditional tenure-track job, most people who leave the academy experience a feeling of loss over their unrealized dream of living the “academic life.”

Step 2: Acceptance and Hope

You emerge from your gloomy phase into one of acceptance.

You recognize the fact that you were not meant to be a "traditional academic" and you have hope that you will be able to follow your passion in a fulfilling way.

Step 3: Exploration

Most of the time you know deep-down what it is you want to do, but few of us will admit it right away, which means many of us will explore different career options.

I explored a lot last year and I am still exploring. Last year, I interned with 2 public history groups and found that I did not want to run a non-profit.

Step 4: Action

You admit what you want to do and take steps to pursue your calling.

Deep-down I knew that I wanted to make a career as a public historian, someone who makes history accessible for everyone through my writing and speaking.

This year, I am experimenting with how I can earn a living from my writing and speaking.

2. Twitter is a great resource for people who want to transition out of the academy

I am still in awe of the generosity of the #postacs, #altacs, and #twitterstorians on Twitter.

Nearly everyone in these communities has a helpful story or advice that they are willing to share with you.

All you need to do is ask.

3. You HAVE transferrable skills

Graduate school was a valuable experience that taught us skills that “real-world” companies and organizations value.

A list of just a few of our marketable skills • Analytical Thinking • Ability to Write • Ability to Synthesize LARGE amounts of information into digestible nuggets • Computer Skills • Research • Project Management • Entrepreneurialism

Conclusion

The above outline represents the information you will find during my segment of the panel, which begins at about 23 minutes 20 seconds.

You will find a lot of value in this video if you are thinking about, or in the process of, leaving academia or if you are a professor thinking about ways you can improve your graduate education program.

You will find that some of the most valuable insights come during the Question & Answer session at the end of the panel.

Please feel free to tweet me, send me an e-mail, or leave a comment if you have questions about how you can embrace your post-academic or alternative-academic life.

5 Tips That Will Help You Stay Current With Scholarship

Do you struggle to keep up-to-date with new historical research? Anyone who writes about history knows that it can be a challenge to keep up with the latest scholarship.

In this post you will learn about the 5 methods I use to stay current on historical scholarship.

Method 1: Academic Journals

Journals will help you stay current on the latest scholarship.

They provide a wealth of information even if you lack the time to read every article (most historians do).

Open a journal, read its table of contents, and read/skim the articles and book reviews that interest you and/or apply to your research. This technique will help you stay informed.

Here is a list of the academic journals I read/skim.

General History American Historical Review

Journal of American History

Reviews in American History

Early American History

The William and Mary Quarterly

Journal of the Early Republic

Early American Studies

Journal of Early American History

Common-Place

History of New York

New York History

Hudson River Valley Review

Method 2: H-Net

H-Net “creates and coordinates Internet networks with the common objective of advancing teaching and research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.”

Through H-Net you can subscribe to over 100 different e-mail lists that focus on different aspects of history. H-Net lists are a great way to learn about history-related jobs, conferences, fellowships, and research. They also provide access to a global network of historians. Historians use H-Net to pose, answer, and discuss questions about scholarship, sources, and interpretation.

H-Net is in the process of transferring to a new, more versatile platform called H-Net Commons. If you can’t find a list for your topic of study on H-Net be sure to check out H-Net Commons.

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Method 3: Blogs

Blogs about history will also keep you abreast of scholarship. Some blogs read like newspapers about history and scholarship, others discuss the minutiae of research.

I subscribe to a number of blogs, which I check each morning.

History Organizations

AHA Today by the American Historical Association

History News Network

History @ Work by the National Council on Public History

History Publications

The Journal of the American Revolution

New York History Blog

Archives, Libraries, & Museums

The Past is Present the American Antiquarian Society Blog

The Beehive: The Official Blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society

Smithsonian Magazine

Historian Blogs (I subscribe to over 35 blogs written by historians. This list comprises the most active blogs. I have listed them in alphabetical order by historian/blogger.)

Boston1775 by J.L. Bell

Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics by Mark R. Cheathem

The Last Campaign: Legislative Branch, Presidential Legacy, and Related Matters by Anthony J. Clark

The Way of Improvement Leads Home by John Fea

In the Words of Women, a group blog kept by independent historians who study women’s history

Keith Harris History by Keith Harris

The Junto Blog: A Group Blog on Early American History

Historiann: History and Sexual Politics, 1492-Present by Ann M. Little

American Studier by Ben Railton 

That Devil History by Jared Ruminski

To Breathe Your Free Air by John D. Wilsey

Method 4: Twitter

Many historians tweet information about their work as well as links to articles about new scholarship.

Method 5: Conferences

Try to attend at least one history conference each year.

Even if you can't make it to a conference, peruse the conference program. Conference programs contain paper titles, which will provide you with a good idea about the different research projects historians are working on.

What Do You Suggest?

How do you keep up with the the latest historical scholarship?

Which history blogs do you read?

Leave a comment, send me an e-mail, or tweet me.

Network Better: 5 Tips for How You Can Meet More People at a Conference

In honor of the upcoming American Historical Association annual meeting, December will feature tips you can use to get the most out of attending conferences.

Why Go to a Conference?

In order to produce great work, historians must keep abreast of new projects, arguments, and methodologies.

Scholarly journals showcase these developments, but they do not allow for a live, peer-to-peer discussion of them.

Conferences do.

Conferences also provide a great opportunity to meet new people.

People open doors to knowledge, friendship, and opportunity.

So, how can you meet more people at a conference?

Project Confidence.

In this post you will learn 5 Tips for how you can project and use confidence to meet more people at conferences.

5 Tips for How You Can Project Confidence & Use it to Meet More People

1. Recognize Your Gifts & Achievements

Be confident in your intellectual achievements.

Whether you have studied on your own or in pursuit of an advanced degree, you are an expert in your field.

In fact, you may be the expert of your specific niche.

Be mindful of your expertise and carry that knowledge with you because it will help you realize that you have something valuable to offer and that you are a person worth speaking to.

2. Participate

Participate in conference panels or sessions either by presenting a paper or by asking questions.

Use your experience to inform your questions.

Some of the most interesting questions occur when people ask speakers to draw a comparison between the ideas a speaker has discussed and an occurrence the question poser has seen in their own work. (These questions work best when well thought out and when the periods of the panelist and question poser are similar.)

Attend receptions, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.

Conference-goers attend extra before- and after-hours events to see old friends and meet new people.

The casualness of food and drink creates a social atmosphere that increases a person's openness to conversing with someone new.

3. Be Outgoing & Positive

It can be intimidating to introduce yourself to someone new.

But, you must go to the people you want to meet because they will not be looking for you.

Start the conversation by introducing yourself and telling the person about why you wanted to meet them.

Comment on something they said or an issue they raised during the conference.

Most people love to talk about themselves and their work.

Smile.

Smiles broadcast a positive, fun attitude that will help attract people to you because positive people are more fun than boring or sad people.

4. Project A Professional Persona

Look the part.

Dress professionally in all aspects of your attire from shoes and clothing to briefcase/handbag.

Act the part.

It is important to be yourself, but you should project and embody the best version of yourself at a conference.

Be your most social and confident self by remembering that you already share a lot in common with other conference-goers: you are passionate about history and you are attending the same conference.

5. Invest In Business Cards

Buy high-quality business cards.

Moo.com has great looking, professional business cards. They are a bit pricey, but totally worth it.*

Be strategic: Design your card around your personal brand.

• What colors do you use (or plan to use) on your website? What are your school colors? Use those colors for fonts or backgrounds.
• Does your website (will your website) have an image? If so, use that image on the back of your card.
• Name your position under your name. Unaffiliated? Use “Independent Scholar” or something more descriptive such as “Historian of Ancient China” or “Historian & Writer” as your title.
• Do you have a masters or doctoral degree? Consider using M.A. or Ph.D. at the end of your name. It shows gravitas and, after all, you earned them!
• List your website/blog URL.
• List your email address and phone number.
• Be social. Provide your Twitter handle or the address to your favorite social media site homepage.

Need an example? Here’s my card.

As you can see, I incorporated the colors of my website and banner image into my card.

I also added round corners for a nice, non-traditional touch that reflects my non-traditional career choice.

People pay attention when they see the quality and feel the weight of my business card because its shows that I am serious about what I do.

Conclusion

Being mindful of your expertise and participating in a conference will help you feel like you belong at the conference.

Participation will also help other attendees recognize that you are a member of their intellectual community and that you are someone they may want to know.

Looking the part will also help you feel like you belong, which in turn might help you feel more outgoing. Also, people are attracted to others who look and act like them.

Finally, good business cards will help others remember your name and show that you are serious about and invested in your work.

Use these 5 tips and you will network better and meet more people at your next conference or seminar.

What Do You Think?

How do you make the most out of your conference experiences? 

*The link to Moo.com is my "refer a friend" link. If you decide to buy business cards from them and use my link, I will earn money towards my next set of business cards.