Historiography is essential to the historian's craft, so it is worthwhile spending some time understanding what it is as field of inquiry, how historians use historiography in their work, and what historiographical techniques might be valuable to the practicing historian.
Read MoreWe’ve finally gotten to microphones. A quality microphone might be the most important factor in creating a good recording rather than a bad recording.
I have already talked about onboard microphones a bit in the first entry in this series on recording devices. That’s pretty much all I have to say about built-in mics. They’re fine for getting the job done—if content is more important than quality.
For many public history applications, we would much prefer to have great content and a quality recording. To do this, we need good microphones that are set up so that they record what we want them to record and ignore what we want them to ignore.
Read MoreIn this second installment for “Digital Audio for Public Historians,” I want to have a look at one of the basic recording options available on mid-range recorders: the option to have a mono or stereo recording. We will use sample recordings from the 1960s to illustrate a few key principals, including recordings of James Baldwin, The Beach Boys, and The Beatles.
Read MoreAn infographic explaining how podcasts work.
Read MoreThe Practicing History Podcast is back! You can download it at the bottom of this page. This week, we're asking the question, "What is a primary source?" In this episode, I discuss the nature and use of primary sources in historical interpretation. This is a good introduction for those interested in more than just a textbook definition of historical sources.
Read MoreToday's episode is the second of a two-part series on correlation and causation. You can listen to them as standalone episodes, but I think that they do a good job at reinforcing each other.
Read MorePracticing History is a podcast devoted to a broad approach to studying history — from research to teaching to methodology to theory. Practicing History is particularly interested in the manifold ways that humans make their history. As such, it is concerned not only with how professionals construct histories but how we all make history anew every day – through retelling and reimagining it and by the very fact that we are ourselves historical actors.
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