Early American History Podcasts You Should Check Out
**Updated Fall 2023
Do you like early American history?
Here you’ll find a list of the best podcasts for early American history buffs with links and basic information.
As an editor and author coach for nonfiction authors and an early American historian with PhD, here are seven podcasts I’d recommend.
These six podcasts will offer you a variety of perspectives—often unique perspectives—on the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Founding eras (prior to 1789).
There’s a something for everyone on this list: people and places, battles, new books, and more.
If you’re looking for show notes or want to see if a podcast is on Spotify or YouTube, check out the podcast’s website or do an online search.
To get my latest research, updates, and notes and recommendations on late-colonial and Revolutionary-era American history, hop on my history email list today and I’ll be in your inbox monthly with some great stuff.
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With no further ado, here’s your list of Early American history podcasts. The list is in alphabetical order. I’ve borrowed heavily from (and in some cases, lifted entirely) the podcasts’ official descriptions.
Enjoy!
American Revolution Podcast
hosted by Michael Troy
Website | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts
American Revolution Podcast explores the events of the American Revolution, from beginning to end.
Listen if: You’re looking for a podcast presented in chronological order that offers true breadth and depth on the American Revolution. As an added bonus, you’ll get reading recommendations in the show notes.
Format: solo/monologue with occasional interviews
New episodes: weekly, on Sundays
Episode length: 30 minutes; interviews may be longer
Best episodes:
Nov. 19, 2020 / AR-SP04 Michael Harris on Germantown
Aug. 26, 2020 / AR-SP01 Dr. Ronald Gibbs on Medical Care and the Revolution
Ben Franklin’s World
hosted by Liz Covart
Website | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts
Each episode features conversations with professional historians who help shed light on important people and events in early American history. It is produced by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.
Listen if: You’re interested in early American history and you want to learn about it from all angles.
Format: interviews (often of authors on their new books) by host
New episodes: varies, but often weekly, on Tuesdays
Episode length: 60 minutes, on average
Best episodes (in addition to yours truly on episode 56, Nov. 17, 2015):
May 25, 2021 / Matthew Powell, An Early History of the Mississippi Gulf Coast
Dec. 15, 2020 / The World of the Wampanoag, Part 2: 1620 and Beyond
June 2, 2020 / 275 Ingrid Tague, Pets in Early America
Apr. 24, 2018 / 183 Douglas Bradburn, George Washington’s Mount Vernon
Dec. 15, 2015 / 060 David Preston, Braddock's Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution
Dispatches: The Podcast of the Journal of the American Revolution
hosted by Brady Crytzer
Website | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts
Each week Dispatches features interviews highlighting the latest in scholarship, news, and opinions regarding the American Revolutionary Era.
Listen if: You love to explore the American Revolution from different angles and you enjoy engaging guest interviews on noteworthy books and articles and if you enjoy reading the Journal of the American Revolution.
Format: interviews by host
New episodes: weekly, on Saturdays
Episode length: under 30 minutes
Best episodes:
Nov. 7, 2021 / E140: Gregory J.W. Urwin: The Yorktown Tragedy: Washington‘s Slave Roundup
Sept. 26, 2020 / E85: Damien Cregeau: Ten Revolutionary War Patriot Graves
May 9, 2020 / E65: Stephen John Katzberg: Mapping the Battle of Eutaw Springs
Sept. 28, 2019 / E34: Mark Edward Lender: Cabal: The Plot Against General Washington
Doing History Podcast
hosted by Liz Covart and sponsored by the Omohundro Institute
Website | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts
Series 1 focuses on the craft of history—how it’s researched, analyzed, written, and published; Series 2 focuses on how differently scholars approach, understand, and portray the American Revolution; Series 3 focuses on the genre of biography and how historians and biographers can best uncover and understand the lives of people from the past; Series 4 explores the origins of the Bill of Rights as well as the history of the Fourth Amendment.
Listen if: You’re looking for a behind-the-scenes look at what historians do and you’re interested in the history of the study of history.
Format: interviews with prominent professional historians
New episodes: weekly, on Mondays (Series 1 aired from January 22, 2020 to April 27, 2020)
Episode length: 25 to 45 minutes
Best episodes:
Apr. 27, 2020 / History & Historians in the Public
Apr. 20, 2020 / The History of Genealogy
Mar. 9, 2020 / The History of History Writing
Historyman Podcast
hosted by Eric K. Barnes
Website | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts
This podcast is “geared to the Revolutionary War enthusiasts, especially those interested in the Southern Campaigns.”
Listen if: You want to learn more about the people, places, and battles of the Revolutionary War in South Carolina and North Carolina.
Format: interviews with local historians, authors, archaeologists, museum curators, and preservationists.
New episodes: twice each week
Episode length: 15 to 30 minutes
Best episodes:
Mar. 27, 2023 / Fort Granby and the RevWar
Mar. 6, 2023 / Francis Marion with Charles Baxley (Pt. 1 and 2)
Key Battles of the Revolutionary War
hosted by James Early and Scott Rank
Website | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts
This podcast dives deep into each of the major battles of America’s war of independence.
Listen if: You’d like a chronologically-presented overview of the Revolutionary War.
Format: cohosts/monologue
New episodes: daily (posted in March 2020)
Episode length: varies
Best episodes:
Mar. 26, 2020 / George Washington’s Spies: The Culper Ring, Nathan Hale, and the Plot to Capture Benedict Arnold
Mar. 10, 2020 / Crossing the Delaware
The JuntoCast: A Podcast on Early American History
hosted by Ken Owen, Michael Hattem, and Roy Rogers
Website | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts
The JuntoCast is a monthly podcast about early American history. Each episode features a roundtable discussion by academic historians, Ken Owen, Michael Hattem, Roy Rogers, and guest panelists, exploring a single aspect of early American history in depth. The JuntoCast brings the current knowledge of academic historians to a broad audience in an informal, conversational format that is intellectually engaging, educational, and entertaining.
Listen if: You’re interested in scholars’ perspectives on the study of early American history, you’re looking to learn something truly new, you’re a graduate student in American history, you’re interested in historiography.
Format: co-hosts engage in roundtable discussions, occasionally with guests
New episodes: monthly (ended in 2021)
Episode length: 60+ minutes; “extra” episodes are 15 to 30 minutes
Best episodes:
Mar. 15, 2021 / Ep. 33: Hamilton: Six Years Later
Jan. 28, 2015 / Ep. 15: Founders in Early America
Dec. 14, 2013 / Ep. 7: The Great Awakening
May 28, 2013 / Ep. 1: Academic Historians and Popular History
Which of these podcasts do you listen to? Have you discovered any other great podcasts in early American history? I’d love to hear from you.
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Thanks for reading,