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 interested in history beyond textbooks, the outdoors beyond recreation, and stories that linger long after they’re told, this show is for you.
Episodes
242 episodes
Episode 199: First in War, Last of His Kind: H.W. Brands on George Washington
What made George Washington more than a Founding Father? In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, historian H. W. Brands joins Jason to explore the man behind the marble statue—soldier, strategist, slaveholder, revolutionary, a...
Episode 198: Honor, Fear, and the Green Knight: Matt Gabriele on Arthurian Myth and Medieval Masculinity
What does The Green Knight reveal about masculinity, honor, fear, and the strange world of medieval storytelling?In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, historian and medievalist Matt Gabriele joins Jason for a...
Episode 197: Soylent Green Explained: Eco-Dystopia, Climate Anxiety, and the 1970s That Still Haunt Us
What if our most famous environmental dystopias reveal as much about fear and ideology as they do about the future?In this episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert, I sit down with film scholar Matthew Thompson, author of On ...
Episode 196: Linford Fisher on the Hidden History of Indigenous Slavery in America
What if American slavery didn’t begin in 1619?In this episode, historian Linford Fisher joins me to discuss Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in US History and the overlooked history of Indigenous enslavem...
Episode 195: How The Fast and Furious Franchise Remade Hollywood
What does The Fast and the Furious actually tell us about Hollywood—and about us?This week on Reckoning with Jason Herbert, I’m joined by Dan Hassler-Forest to break down one of the most unlikely blockbuster franchises ...
Episode 194: The Menu
Two of our earliest guests are back — and 200 episodes later, the conversation is better than ever.Jason sits down with Emily Contois (Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Tulsa and author of *Diners, Dudes, and Die...
Episode 193: John Quincy Adams After the Presidency: Bob Crawford on America’s Founding Son and the Fight Against Slavery
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...
Episode 192: Miccosukee Sovereignty, the Everglades, and a Forgotten Cold War Story
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 Mo...
Episode 191: Rewriting the West: Megan Kate Nelson and the Myths We Still Believe
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.<...
Episode 190: Timecop with John Wyatt Greenlee and Robert Greene II
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 sta...
Episode 189: Breaking Away with James Longhurst
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 mov...
Episode 188: Kelly Ramsey--Life on the Fireline in the Burning American West
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
Episode 187: Who Built American Barbecue? with Adrian Miller
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...
Episode 186: Clue: Laughter, Paranoia, and the Politics of the 1980s with Julio Capó, Jr.
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 hidde...
Episode 185: Creating The Gray House with Lori McCreary, Leslie Greif, and Roland Joffe
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, a...
Episode 184: Purple Rain and Prince’s Minneapolis with Rashad Shabazz
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 f...
Episode 183: Heather Cox Richardson on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
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 Ameri...
Episode 182: Contagion of Liberty: Smallpox, Freedom, and America's First Culture War with Andrew Wehrman
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...
Episode 181: Jack El-Hai on Nuremberg, “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist,” and the Limits of Understanding
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 Psychi...
Episode 180: Julie Reed on Cherokee Land, Language, and the Power of Women
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...
Episode 179: Coyote America with Dan Flores
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 ...
Episode 178: The Great Math War: When Math became a Battlefield
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 i...
Episode 177: The Quiet Crisis in America's Creeks
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 ecolo...
Episode 176: Multipass to the Past: The Wild Origins of The Fifth Element
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 Troch...
