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PODCAST

Reckoning with Jason Herbert

Reckoning with Jason Herbert is a long-form conversation podcast about history, the outdoors, and the stories that shape who we are.Each episode features historians, writers, scientists, and thinkers in wide-ranging conversations about wild places, forgotten pasts, cultural memory, and the forces—human and natural—that continue to shape our lives.This isn’t a news cycle show or a debate podcast. It’s a space for reflection, curiosity, and serious conversation—meant to be listened to slowly.If you’re

history

All Episodes

86:04

Episode 193: John Quincy Adams After the Presidency:...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/04/09

John Quincy Adams is one of those figures who seems to sit quietly in the background of American history — the son of a Founder, a one-term president, a man often overshadowed by bigger personalities. But look closer, and a very different story emerges. After losing the presidency, Adams didn’t fade away. He reinvented himself. He returned to Washington, entered the House of Representatives, and became one of the most relentless and morally uncompromising voices of his generation — especially...

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61:27

Episode 192: Miccosukee Sovereignty, the Everglades,...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/04/06

What does it mean to fight for your people—not on a battlefield, but in courtrooms, in capitals… and even on the global stage? In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, I’m joined by filmmaker and Miccosukee storyteller Montana Cypress to talk about his powerful new film, Becoming Buffalo. At the center of the story is Buffalo Tiger—a man raised in the Everglades who would go on to lead his people into one of the most unlikely diplomatic moments in American history: a meeting with Fide...

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76:32

Episode 191: Rewriting the West: Megan Kate Nelson...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/03/31

In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, I’m joined by historian Megan Kate Nelson to talk about her new book The Westerners: Mythmaking and Belonging on the American Frontier—and why the frontier myth refuses to die. We dig into the stories of seven people who lived the West in real time—Indigenous women, Black frontiersmen, Chinese migrants, and white settlers—and how their lives complicate the familiar narrative of pioneers and progress. Along the way, we explore: The origins...

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79:56

Episode 190: Timecop with John Wyatt Greenlee and...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/03/26

What if time travel wasn’t about discovery—but control? In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, we dive into the 1994 sci-fi action film Timecop—a quintessential 90s blockbuster starring Jean-Claude Van Damme that blends time travel, political corruption, and high-octane action into something far more revealing than it first appears. Joining me are Reckoning stalwarts and my great friends, historians Robert Greene II and John Wyatt Greenlee. Together, we explore what Timecop tells us...

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99:56

Episode 189: Breaking Away with James Longhurst

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/03/18

In this episode, I sit down with historian James Longhurst, author of Bike Battles, to break down the 1979 film Breaking Away and what it reveals about cycling and American life. We talk about why this coming-of-age sports movie still resonates, how it captures class and masculinity, and what it says about the 1970s bike boom. Along the way, we dig into the history of bicycling in America, the politics of the road, and how debates over bike infrastructure, cities, and transportation continue ...

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95:56

Episode 188: Kelly Ramsey--Life on the Fireline in...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/03/16

Wildfires are no longer rare disasters in the American West—they are a defining feature of the landscape. But very few people have seen them up close. In this episode, Jason Herbert speaks with Kelly Ramsey, author of Wildfire Days: A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning American West. Ramsey spent multiple seasons on an elite wildland firefighting crew—known as hotshots—the teams sent to the most dangerous parts of massive fires. Ramsey was also the only woman on her crew, navigating a dem...

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77:35

Episode 187: Who Built American Barbecue? with Adrian...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/03/11

Barbecue is American history — but not the version most of us were taught. In this episode, I talk with James Beard Award–winning historian Adrian Miller about the untold story behind his book Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue. Who built American barbecue? How did enslaved pitmasters shape a national cuisine? Why have Black barbecue traditions been minimized in the stories we tell about Texas brisket, Memphis ribs, and Southern food culture? We dive into Junetee...

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71:17

Episode 186: Clue: Laughter, Paranoia, and the...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/03/05

What if Clue isn’t just a cult comedy — but a sharp satire of the Cold War? In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, historian Julio Capó Jr. joins me to unpack the surprisingly profound history lesson hidden inside the 1985 film Clue. Set in a 1950s mansion but released during the Reagan era, Clue plays with paranoia, anti-communism, class anxiety, and America’s nostalgic myths about the past — all while delivering rapid-fire jokes and multiple endings. We explore how the film reflec...

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74:57

Episode 185: Creating The Gray House with Lori...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/02/26

Today on the podcast, we’re stepping inside The Gray House—not just the story you see on screen, but the one behind it. This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at how this series came to life: how it was conceived, how it was built, and why it mattered enough to tell it this way. I’m joined by executive producers Lori McCreary and Leslie Greif, along with director Roland Joffé. Together, they walk us through the creative choices, the production challenges, and the larger questions they were ...

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103:13

Episode 184: Purple Rain and Prince’s Minneapolis...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/02/19

In this episode, I sit down with cultural geographer Rashad Shabazz to dissect the 1984 classic starring Prince — and ask the uncomfortable questions. Is The Kid a tortured genius… or a young man replaying generational trauma? Is the final performance redemption — or dominance? And what does Minneapolis represent in a film about Black masculinity, ambition, and control? We unpack race, space, violence, desire, artistic genius, and the myth of upward mobility — all through the lens of one of t...

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105:36

Episode 183: Heather Cox Richardson on Abraham...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/02/12

In Episode 183 of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, historian Heather Cox Richardson joins the show for a lively and surprisingly sharp conversation about the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter—and what it reveals about American mythmaking. What happens when we place a fantastical, axe-wielding Abraham Lincoln alongside the real political crises of the 1860s—and our own? We explore the Civil War, Reconstruction, the endurance of the “Lost Cause,” and the power of storytelling in shaping nationa...

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71:23

Episode 182: Contagion of Liberty: Smallpox, Freedom,...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/02/09

In this episode of Reckoning, historian Andrew Wehrman, author of Contagion of Liberty, explores how smallpox and inoculation shaped the American founding—and ignited some of the earliest debates over liberty, risk, and public health. Long before COVID-19, Americans wrestled with questions of bodily autonomy, religious belief, communal obligation, and government authority, all in the shadow of a deadly disease and without modern medical knowledge. From local resistance to inoculation to Georg...

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58:35

Episode 181: Jack El-Hai on Nuremberg, “The Nazi and...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/02/05

In this episode of Reckoning, we speak with author and journalist Jack El-Hai about the new film Nuremberg and the deeper questions it raises about justice, memory, and moral responsibility. Drawing on his book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, El-Hai examines the relationship between Hermann Göring and Dr. Douglas Kelley during the Nuremberg Trials, and what it reveals about psychology, power, and the human impulse to explain evil. The conversation considers how early efforts to diagnose Nazism...

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87:11

Episode 180: Julie Reed on Cherokee Land, Language,...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/02/02

In this episode, I’m joined by Cherokee scholar and author Julie Reed to talk about her powerful book Land, Language, and Women: A Cherokee and American Educational History. We explore how Cherokee women have shaped—and continue to sustain—relationships to land, community, and language in the face of colonial violence and dispossession. Reed shows how land is not simply territory, language is not merely words, and women are not peripheral to history, but are instead central to cultural surviv...

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82:46

Episode 179: Coyote America with Dan Flores

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/01/27

There is probably no historian working today more influential in shaping how we think about the way in which humans and animals engage with each other and the environment than Dan Flores. Today, Dan joins in to talk about his epic work, Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History, on the eve of its 10th anniversary release, along with discussions on wolf reintroduction, bison on the plains, the American Serengeti, and his relationship with Steven Rinella and the crew over at Meateater....

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77:15

Episode 178: The Great Math War: When Math became a...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/01/20

This week Jason Socrates Bardi joins in to talk about about the rivalry between three mathematicians that defined the fifty years surrounding World War I. About our guest: Jason Socrates Bardi is an award-winning journalist in DC who has written two books about the history of math: The Calculus Wars and The Fifth Postulate. He has published hundreds of articles about modern science and medicine in outlets including the San Francisco Chronicle, Good Morning America, US News & World Report,...

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53:40

Episode 177: The Quiet Crisis in America's Creeks

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/01/12

This week Dr. Zackary Graham drops in to talk about one of America's most important environmental stewards--the crawfish--and why their disappearance should worry us all. About our guest: Zack is an evolutionary and behavioral ecologist who studies crayfish diversity. The goal of his research is to untangle the ecological and evolutionary complexities that have led crayfishes to be amongst the most successful freshwater animals within the Eastern United States and beyond. He is the author ...

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81:38

Episode 176: Multipass to the Past: The Wild Origins...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2026/01/06

Egyptologists Dr. Julia Troche and Matt Szafran join in this week to talk about the history behind The Fifth Element and how the anxieties of the 90s are reflected in Luc Besson's campy space opera. About our guests: Dr. Julia Troche is an Egyptologist and Associate Professor of History. In 2022 she was awarded her university's highest teaching award followed by the Missouri Governor's Award for Education Excellence. She is committed to advocating for students, early career scholars, and cont...

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92:47

Episode 175: When Harry Met Sally

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2025/12/30

This week Kate Sheppard and Thomas Lecaque drop in to talk about the greatest romcom of all time. About our guests: Dr. Kathleen Sheppard earned her PhD in History of Science from the University of Oklahoma in 2010. After a post-doctoral teaching fellowship at the American University in Cairo, she arrived at Missouri S&T in the fall of 2011. She teaches mainly survey courses on modern Western Civilizations, which is arguably one of the most important courses students in 21st century Ameri...

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65:10

Episode 174: How the Outdoor Industry Sold Nature to...

Reckoning with Jason Herbert ·

2025/12/23

This week Dr. Rachel Gross drops in to explain the rise of outdoor goods manufacturers and how they sold us on going outside. About our guest: Rachel Gross is an environmental, cultural, and public historian specializing in the history of the modern U.S. Her research and teaching interests center on business, consumer culture, and gender, and she is especially interested in what seemingly ordinary consumer goods tell us about identity and power. She teaches courses on capitalism, commodities,...

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240 results

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