Liz Covart's amazingly popular podcast helps her audience understand early American history
In February, Perspectives on History ran a story exploring the current boom in history podcasts, and found that podcasts allow historians to both disseminate their work to a wider audience and to develop professional connections with other academics. AHA Today recently spoke with Liz Covart, creator of Ben Franklin’s World, an interview-driven podcast focusing on current scholarship in early American history, about her experiences in the world of history podcasting.
How would you describe Ben Franklin’s World?
Ben Franklin’s World is an interview-driven podcast about early American history. Each episode features an interview with a guest historian and together we cover a topic from the colonial period through the Age of Jackson, although we occasionally talk about the Civil War. Most interviews are based on books, but some focus on a documentary editing project or public history project.
What is your podcasts’ origin story?
I decided to start a podcast in early 2013 because I couldn’t find a history show that I wanted to listen to. At the time, I had no idea how to podcast, but I knew how to research. I used my skills as a historian to study the media: what made podcasts popular, how they differed from radio, show structure, how to reach my target audience, and the long-term prospects for podcasts. Admittedly, I might have gotten carried away, but all of this information has helped me produce Ben Franklin’s World and grow it.
How does your podcast fit within your career as a historian?
Ben Franklin’s World started as an experiment: Were nonhistorians interested in scholarly history? Would they read and learn more about scholarly history if they knew where to find it? In less than a year and a half, my growing audience has answered both questions with an overwhelming “YES.” Their interest has me thinking about a new type of historical career, one that blends my interests in both early American history and how historians communicate scholarship. Between 2001 and 2005, I viewed the “David McCullough phenomenon” from a front-row seat. I worked for the Boston National Historical Park as a seasonal interpretive ranger. At the start of summer 2001, visitors came to the park wanting to know how to climb the Bunker Hill monument, tour the USS Constitution, and where they could find Cheers. By the end of summer 2001, and throughout 2003, visitors started asking really detailed questions about the American Revolution and they wanted in-depth answers. Many would preface or end our conversation with something to the effect of “You know, I really hated history, but then I read McCullough’s John Adams because everyone else was reading it.” I have a long way to go, but Ben Franklin’s World has allowed me to create a smaller version of the “McCullough phenomenon” for scholarly history. 41 percent of my audience has read a book or visited a historic site because they heard a site director or a historian speak about their work on the show. Emails, tweets, and interaction in a Facebook group for listeners, reveal that Ben Franklin’s World is inspiring conversations like those I witnessed between 2001 and 2003. Moreover, the show is providing listeners with a better idea of the important work historians do. This type of knowledge creates respect and advocates for history and historical research. ...