Noam Maggor & Stefan Link Interview 14/10/19

10/15/19 • 33 min

Cambridge American History Seminar Podcast

Back again after a long break, it's the podcast with the catchiest title and the freshest insights into some of the most exciting work in the field of American history. The Cambridge American History Seminar Podcast has returned for the 2019-20 academic year! In our first seminar of the year, Dr Noam Maggor (Queen Mary, University of London) and Professor Stefan Link (Dartmouth College) talk to Cambridge PhD student R.M Bates about their paper 'The United States as a Developing Nation: Revisiting the Peculiarities of American History'. They discuss the existing literature on the America's economic development in the second half and first half of the twentieth century, the importance of explaining the atypicality of this story without falling into exceptionalist potholes, and the usefulness of an existing literature on East Asian developmental states in reconfiguring our understanding of this period in American history. Of particular interest to the two is the emergence of the automobile industry in Southeast Michigan in the late nineteenth century. They also touch on the process of writing collaboratively, the influence of the 'New History of Capitalism', and the benefits of doing your research in what might be seen as less exciting places. If you have any questions, suggestions or feedback, get in touch via @camericanist on Twitter or [email protected]. Spread the word, and thanks for listening! See you next week! Schedule for the Cambridge American History Seminar- https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/seminars/american-history-seminar

Previous Episode

Brooke Blower Interview 20/5/19

Final seminar and final podcast of the year! We might have some more content for you over the summer, but for now, what a way to close out the academic year! Brooke Blower, Associate Professor of History at Boston University and founding co-editor of the journal Modern American History, talks to Lewis Defrates about her paper 'Gibraltars of the Pacific', which explores the activities of one American export salesman (and former Olympian!), Frank Cuhel, in southeast Asia in the decades prior to the outbreak of World War 2. We discuss trans-colonial mobility, colony-metropole correspondence and how this paper fits into Professor Blower's ongoing work on the experiences of a small group of American overseas and their experiences prior to and during the war. This was a really enjoyable conversation, although the questions I asked her turned out to be miles away from the discussion that took part in the actual seminar, so apologies if the conversation is guided somewhat by my own research interests! We also talk very briefly about the modern relevance of the album format, which is something I have a lot of thoughts on that I did not articulate at all well here. If you want to talk more about it or if you have any other questions, suggestions or feedback, get in touch via @camericanist (or @lewisdefrates) on Twitter or [email protected]. Spread the word, and thanks for listening! See you soon (?)

Next Episode

Heather Ann Thompson Interview 21/10/19

It's that time of the week! Here's another top-notch interview discussing some new work with one of the most important and highly-acclaimed historians working today. On the podcast today we are joined by Heather Ann Thompson, a Professor History and of Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan AND this year's Pitt Professor of American History of Institutions here at the University of Cambridge. Professor Thompson talks to PhD student Richard Saich about her paper 'Lore and Logics: The Liberal State, the Carceral State, and the Limits of Justice and Inequality in Postwar America', its primary points, its potential consequences and relationship with her earlier work, including the Pulitzer and Bancroft prize winning book 'Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy'. The two also discuss, among other things. the relationship between academic scholarship and activism, the particularly prominent role of women in developing this scholarship and social action, and prisons in Finland. If you have any questions, suggestions or feedback, get in touch via @camericanist on Twitter or [email protected]. Spread the word, and thanks for listening! See you next week! Schedule for the Cambridge American History Seminar- https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/seminars/american-history-seminar