Is there something the you knew about British History that your research for your podcast has totally blown out of the water?

You often note that you are not a professional historian* but a history communicator, so what are your critiques of historians and their approaches to the public? Where can they become better public intellectuals?

* =being a professional-ish historian myself, I have to say you are generally cautious and respectful of sources, and warn your listeners when you are speculating)

I don't have a question, just a sincere thank you for doing the BHP. I enjoy it immensely and consume new episodes voraciously. Keep doing what you folks have been doing. Y'all are excellent

I figured I'd post my question from the forums here

In listening to the BHP it seems like quite a bit of the Anglo Saxon kingdom/territories leaders claim the rulership because of their direct relationship to Woden.  Generally did the people of the times believe that there was a direction relationship (by blood) between Woden and their ruler?  I know that Bede wrote about it later, but what was the belief of the time?

Based on your site and how many episodes you have out, as well as how long you've been at it, it sounds like you've found your audience and are doing well. Glad to see your effort is having positive results!

I wanted to ask some practical questions about getting a Podcast off the ground.

1. How long did it take you to build up a consistent audience that helped you feel justified given the effort involved?

2. When did you start monetizing the project and what has worked best?

The Podcast itself looks great. I'm going to download a few to listen to during my daily commute!

Mr. Jeffers, I cannot tell you how much your podcasts have meant to me. To try to do so would be an insult to them. They have reaffirmed my confidence, resparked my imagination, and opened my eyes to worlds of historical scholarship I previously only dreamed existed in the modern world. Most influentially, they have inspired me to read again. Kudos to the entirety of the British History Podcast. My question: How did this all begin for you? What resources formed the foundation for your scholarship? Ps. The puns/jokes in the episode titles are amazing.

Hey Jamie!

I'm interested in getting a podcast (history of porn) of my own off the ground. Can I ask what sort of equipment you use for the podcast? How much expertise did you have with editing going into this? How long does it take you to record and edit each episode?

what is the most interesting story in your research that has not made the podcast (perhaps would take too much time or outside of Brittania/Britain)

A couple of fun ones:

Who's your favorite Tudor and why is it Henry VIII? (Elizabeth I is acceptable here too).

What period in British History are you most excited to cover and why?

Hi Jamie, first thank you for making my dull morning commutes interesting and educational!

What era of British history do you plan to end the podcast on?

Jamie, how much research goes into a typical podcast episode? And what's the usual primary to secondary source ratio?

is there a name for the people or culture of the pre-celtic natives in Britain?

Jamie, first I laughed hysterically at the April Fools episode.

Second, what do you think was the most interesting royal scandal in British history?

Boxers or Briefs? lol but seriously, since everyone always asks your most favorite topic to cover ill got the opposite direction and ask what is your least favorite topic that you have covered so far? anything you aren't looking forward to in the future?

Hi Jamie, big fan of the show. I love that it probably won't be until 2018 that William the Bastard crosses the Channel. The level of detail is fantastic.

You constantly emphasize what a shame it is that the Anglo-Saxon era is given relatively short shrift. What are some things British history narratives should mention from this era that is usually overlooked?

Second question: if one Anglo-Saxon name were to make a comeback, which one would you pick?

Hey Jamie,

First - massive fan. We're taking the family to the UK at the end of the year and I'm working back through your work with my 8 year old (he loves Hipster Hadrian!).

Question - you're about to tip into an area of history that's orders of magnitude more complex in terms or sources, and narrative (Normans, Franks, 1066, the "Anarchy", Crusades etc.) How are you planning on handling this? I've felt that other podcasters have moved too quickly through a lot of this stuff, but at the same time if you move too slowly you'll be doing the Tudors from an old people's home :)

Any thoughts on how you'll deal with this? And have you thought about throwing out to your community to help out with research etc.?

Re: Crossing paths with historians in academia. You mentioned a that a break with the 'paper mills' of history departments in a university setting need to start with a top-down drive in academia to focus on teaching and less on an insular circle of inward communication... and we need an army of Neil Degrasse Tysons for history... are you aware of any? Are there any academic historians you've crossed paths with who you think really are doing it right?

Aside and as a reference for much much further down the road, as an engineer by training the only fairly academic history text I've picked up and read for fun was 'Albion's Seed', regarding the distinct migrations of the English into the US which the author posited [back in 1989] created the distinct cultures of the US between liberal NE, conservative south, powerbase Virginia etc which evolved into the Red/Blue state divide of the current political climate. While not specifically relevant to British History, interesting to see how the Cromwellian political environment mapped out the political attitudes of the modern day grass roots in the US.

Jamie,

Do legal practices within England at this time have a significant, lasting influence (direct or indirect) upon the laws of the Norman kings, Plantagenets, and overall evolution of law in England during the later Middle Ages? Which legal developments from the time period you've covered so far in the podcast have the most relevant impact on people living in Common Law nations today?

Thanks!

So excited you're doing an AMA! I loved how you included the story of Judith and Baldwin...are there any other historical figures whose "outcome" you wish you knew as well as these two? Any other favorite historical couples?

Thanks for all your efforts in putting together such an engaging podcast!

Just listened to this week's episode. I loving the Awolnation outros. So on to my question: Am I misremembering or is it part of the legends that Alfred's religious devotions stemmed from getting a bit carried away as a younger man? I could swear that comes up at some point in Bernard Cromwell's series but I can't find any evidence for it through quick Google searches. Everything just refers to Asser's claims about his trip to Rome with his father that you mentioned a few weeks back, and then talks about how he was a devout man that didn't press his beliefs on the people.

A non history question since accents fascinate me: Do you every find yourself slipping back into your Welsh accent or did the bullies fully drive it out of you as a child?

Thanks for all the great content.

Love the podcast! I listen every week!

Which is your favorite Anglo-Saxon king?

First thing, I found your podcast a week ago and I'm already into episode 30, as someone fascinated with British history I absolutely love your work.

• Have you seen the Tudors & if so what do you think about the accuracy (or lack of)?
• Same for Pillars of the Earth/World Without End & Century Trilogy by Ken Follet. I know the TV show sucked but what about the writing for those (if you've read them)?
• Your opinion on the Tudor Dynasty as well as the Wars of the Roses.
• More specifically the female influences during that time (Elizabeth Woodville, Cecily Neville, Margaret Beaufort etc.)

Thanks!

The podcast is absolutely fascinating, only a few episodes in, but already hooked. Thank you. Out of the Anglo-Saxon kings of England, who do you believe was the best and worst?

What are your thoughts on the periodization of British history from the iron age through the 9th century CE? How would you divide up the narrative? (You probably do this on your podcast, so if you have an episode devoted to this just point me to that one.)

Jaime, yours is the only podcast that makes me wish I had a longer commute. My question is: of the period of British History that you have covered so far; is there one event you wish you could have witnessed?

What is the saddest subject you remember covering? The happiest or most rewarding?

My sister and I both love the podcast!

Feel free to just tell me to tune in next week if you're already planning on covering it, but a silly question I've been wondering about for some time--what do the people of Danelaw call themselves? Did they retain their old identities, or did they see themselves as separate from the Mercians, Northumbrians, etc.? (Also, what did the Scandinavians call them? Danelaw...sks? Angles? ...Those folks to the south?)

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I've got about 197 episodes to catch up with!

Jamie can you tell us how you developed your podcasting style and how you think it's changed over five years? Did you have grand idea of what the podcast would be and has it become what expected?

Jamie - asking these questions with a manhattan in hand - your podcast is a treat for long commutes - love it. As your timeline begins to shift out of the Heptarchy era into a period when more references become available to you [as you mentioned in the Shop Talk episode], how do you imagine you'll go through picking your references? What's the range of references available? How much of your reference/research is in a library setting to this point [ie dead tree references] vs. digitized vs. purchased references you study at home?

Again - love the work and keep it up.

If you could jump ahead and do just ONE episode from a later point in British history, when would it be?

Hi,

I'm a huge of fan of your show as well as the period in history that you've been covering for the past few months. I keep reading/hearing about how relatively diverse viking crews could be. I think on your show that you madee the point that while the chieftains were Scandinavian, the crews could be from all over. I was wondering where this information comes from and just how diverse these crews could be.

As a follow up, were the occupying "Danes" in the Danelaw regions as diverse?

Hi Jamie! Thank you for doing this AMA! One of the reasons I love your podcast is because you always point out when some written record seems to be too "out there" to be true (like the apparition Edwin of Northumbria had when he was moping one evening.) My question is this: have you ever found a written record (commonly passed as history) that you were so sure it was false that you discarded it completely from the podcast?

Also, I'd like to tell you that I usually listen to the podcast in the NYC subway and laugh out loud to myself a lot. People stare. Not cool...

Hey Jamie I'm really early in the podcast so far so I'm not sure what to ask regarding history. I know you are a Liverpool fan though, so whats your opinion of Klopp so far?

Hi, thanks for the AMA.

Why do you feel Britain was relatively such a late developer in European and world history?

Would you support a Jared Diamond style theory of lack of particularly useful available resources?

Your podcast is the richest in depth of any history podcast I have found. It is so good that has made me disappointed in most other history podcasts.

What other history podcasts do you recommend?

Do you see a point at which you will get to the 22th century?

Is there any chance that you will start publishing your work? For some reason I expect there would be parts of any book done by you that would include a Risk like game on defending a village against vikingers or instructions on how to build a 5th century homestead.

Last month I finally finished all the main episodes and will soon be hitting the member content and look forward to it.

Jamie, thanks for the AMA. A few questions:

• What most surprised you in your research of 5th to 9th century Britain (other than battle cattle)?
• Do you still have original copies of your early episodes before you edited out the "Whatnots" and merged some together?
• I've seen many other history podcasts band together recently to form "networks" (Dark Myths and Agora for examples). Do you see this trend continuing and how important is individual control for you ?(full disclosure, I am a happy BHP member)

Thank you for all of your hard work producing the BHP! I have always had a fascination with British history, and the BHP is the most accessible and entertaining way to learn. My question is....

I can't remember if it was in the main story or in the members feed, but you did an episode on sexuality. Much of the discussion dealt with trans issues, which was fascinating. Did any of your research discuss homosexuality? Did it give you any sort of indication whether this was an accepted, ignored or abhorred practice? Just curious to see if the Victorians white-washed that also.

What was the death rate from violence in sub-Roman Britain?

Are there particular periods of British History that you knew best before beginning the podcast? Who/what are your resources for subjects you know(/care?) less about?

Was Mike Duncan's a History of Rome podcast one of the reasons you elected to do British History?

What are your thoughts on When Diplomacy Fails by Zack Twamley, and how he goes into such detail regarding one subject matter, like he did for the 30 Years War, the Guns of August (the events leading into WW1), and Victorian Britian leading up to the First World War?

What approach do you use regarding your research?

If you could bring one historical figure from the past to the present for questioning (assuming they would be unarmed and friendly), whom would it be?