No one has done more to inspire and encourage me in my own blogging than John Fea, professor of history at Messiah College and author of several books on American history (as well as a great introduction to the discipline that I’ll be teaching again this spring). So I’m happy to see that he has finally migrated his own blog from Blogger (where it launched seven years ago) to WordPress, the platform I’ve been using since I started in 2011. The new version of The Way of Improvement Leads Home looks great!
But even more exciting, John has spun off a podcast version of TWoILH, with an “Episode 0” already available at his blog and on iTunes. The first full episode will debut on January 16 (special guest: James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association), with new ones appearing every other week this winter and spring.
John describes the podcast (co-hosted by Drew Dyrli Hermeling) as “a natural extension” of his blog, with a similarly broad scope of potential topics:
…just about anything related to American history, the place of history in American life, and the creative ways in which people are using history in our culture today. We plan to tell some good stories from the past, connect the past with the present, and talk with some very interesting people — including authors, history educators, media personalities, and anyone who is engaging with the past in innovative or exciting ways.
In that sense, John’s podcast dovetails quite well with an idea he blogged about this morning: the Library of Congress’ new initiative to promote “history communicators.”
Now the only question is whether John will find a way to incorporate one of Bruce Springsteen’s songs about radio into the podcast…
While I’m at it, let me remind you that my own podcast will return for a second season later this week. I’m recording the premiere this afternoon with new co-hosts Mark Pattie and Sam Mulberry. It should drop on Thursday, with new episodes appearing most weeks from now through April as we talk aloud through the book Mark and I are co-writing on Pietism and the Future of Christianity.
