Publication Date

January 16, 2025

Perspectives Section

Features

AHA Topic

Research & Publications

Thematic

Digital Methods, Disability

This essay is part of “What Is Scholarship Today?

Why do you want to recommend my book? As a podcast host on the New Books Network’s Disability Studies channel, I often face this question from historians invited to the show. Part of the podcast network founded and managed by historian Marshall Poe, the channel aims to introduce newly published books in the field of disability studies to a general audience. Every week, I spend a few hours scanning social media posts, email lists, and H-Disability reviews in search of the right book. I send an invitation to the authors and in most cases respond to their question with “I enjoy reading your books and want to share them with my listeners!” Beyond enjoyment, my passion for promoting books stems from my desire to expand the audience for academic history. Podcasting is one way to achieve that goal.

Shamelessly promoting my book . . . If you happen to spend time scrolling through historians’ social media feeds, you’ll likely recognize this phrase. I myself am a shameless advocate for other historians’ work, promoting books to a shared audience that includes academics and amateurs. My use of the term “shared audience” is inspired by the historian Michael Frisch’s argument for “shared authority” in the creation and representation of historical knowledge. The work of British historian Lawrence Stone, who identified a “revival of narrative” in the 1970s, has shaped my thinking as well. “Historians have always told stories,” Stone insisted. “From Thucydides and Tacitus to Gibbon and Macaulay.” Stone regarded storytelling as the historian’s essential craft; still, four decades following his manifesto, popular history books are still written predominantly by nonacademic historians. Podcasts that invite historians for rigorous but accessible conversation can reach potential readers where they are: in their kitchens or cars, walking the dog or folding laundry. An effective podcast host—one trained as a historian but dedicated to helping important research to reach an audience who might otherwise be denied its insights—can establish a bridge between scholars and nonacademic audiences, providing a vital service to both sides of that exchange.

Podcasts that invite historians for rigorous but accessible conversation can reach potential readers in their kitchens or cars, walking the dog or folding laundry.

Why don’t you introduce historical knowledge directly rather than through books? my wife asked after listening to my first few episodes. I sighed but understood the point of her question. What my wife had in mind is public history, and there are many great public history projects. My contribution is different: I promote academic history books to nonacademic readers. Every time I stop by a large bookstore, I am frustrated to find that most prominently displayed histories recount the familiar deeds of powerful men—Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt—or return to subjects of wars and violence. Military historians might rue declining college course offerings, but military history is still welcome in US bookstores. By contrast, while environmental, LGBTQ+, and disability history are popular among historians, they scarcely cross the average reader’s horizon. Those of us working on the Disability Studies channel have made progress promoting academic writing, as reflected in the following metrics: 140 episodes and 116,947 downloads in two years.

Why do I rarely see books about American deaf history? A few years ago, a colleague studying Chinese educational policy asked me this question, which encouraged me to propose a disability studies channel to the New Books Network. Every year, thousands of academic histories are published, but most remain invisible to a general audience. “If it be true that good wine needs no bush” (as Shakespeare’s As You Like It has it), books need advocates: Historians should take pride in promoting their work on social media, podcasts, and other venues. As a historian and podcaster, I aim to facilitate the translation of academic books to an amateur audience.

What is the difference between other book podcasts and mine? I asked myself while preparing my first episode, an interview with Bruce J. Dierenfield and David A. Gerber on their book Disability Rights and Religious Liberty in Education. The answer is that I am a disability scholar, and I know the history and historiography better than amateur and academic podcasters outside the field. Aside from anchoring my podcast, I also serve as a commentator and critic by contributing my thoughts to scholarly discussions (sometimes with reference to my own research). These efforts make my podcast an alternative medium for academic production and situate my work within a conversation among historians looking to broaden the meaning of and mediums for their scholarship.

Shu Wan is a PhD candidate at the University at Buffalo.

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