Advertise on podcast: Trapped in History

Within this episode, I break down the purpose of an introductory group activity for students entitled, "One Man's Trash" that was originally created by me and Maegann Basham in 2020. This is Part I of the two part series on this activity. The next episode will examine and wrestle with the philosophy behind it. Three Questions to Wrestle With — Part One 1. How much evidence is enough before a historian can reasonably make a claim about the past? At what point does a reasonable inference cross the line into assumption or speculation? 2. If the same piece of evidence can mean different things depending on its context, can evidence ever truly “speak for itself”? Or does evidence only gain meaning when someone interprets it? 3. Imagine that historians 500 years from now discovered only five objects from your life. What might they correctly infer about you—and what might they completely misunderstand? What does your answer reveal about the limitations historians face when reconstructing the lives of people from the past? Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠ Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: ⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠ Council on Foreign Relations ⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠ Global Conflict Tracker ⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠ Institute for the Study of War ⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

I am back! After a break this summer I return to discuss my philosophy on wrestling with history in education. I will now be coming back to record episodes and have meaningful conversations. Wrestling with History: Three Questions to Consider 1. If history rarely provides simple answers, should the goal of history education be helping students find answers, or helping them learn to live thoughtfully with complexity and uncertainty? 2. Can we truly understand a historical figure, document, or society without temporarily setting aside our own modern assumptions, or does every interpretation inevitably reveal as much about us as it does about the past? 3. If communication is the primary tool through which civilizations preserve ideas, challenge authority, and inspire change, are history teachers ultimately teaching the past, or teaching students how to participate responsibly in the future? Recommended Links: Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠

Within this episode I have my friend Charles North VI back on the podcast to discuss why primary sources are so damn good from his point of view. Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart Second Time Books https://secondtimebooksonline.com/ Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: https://www.fpri.org/ Council on Foreign Relations https://www.cfr.org Global Conflict Tracker https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker Institute for the Study of War https://www.understandingwar.org/

Within this episode, APSI trainer and history teacher Kenneth LeSage and I discuss the importance of using primary sources for teaching. Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart Second Time Books https://secondtimebooksonline.com/ Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: https://www.fpri.org/ Council on Foreign Relations https://www.cfr.org/ Global Conflict Tracker https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker Institute for the Study of War https://www.understandingwar.org/

Within this introductory episode I wrestle with my personal philosophy on why primary sources can be so powerful. Article Links/References: Nicole Donawho, Lies, Damn Lies, and Primary Sources, July 15, 2025. (On JSTOR)Barton, Keith C. “Primary Sources in History: Breaking through the Myths.” The Phi Delta Kappan 86, no. 10 (2005)Anania, Katie. “Teaching with Primary Sources.” Archives of American Art Journal, 2022.Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart Second Time Books https://secondtimebooksonline.com/ Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: https://www.fpri.org/ Council on Foreign Relations https://www.cfr.org/ Global Conflict Tracker https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker Institute for the Study of War https://www.understandingwar.org/

Within this episode, we revisit with Charles North VI to have him share his experiences of vlogging on different revolutionary and civil war battlefields. It is important to note that Charles brings with him and encourages his audience to consider books that correlate with the battle or units that he is historically following in his videos. Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart Second Time Books https://secondtimebooksonline.com/ Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: https://www.fpri.org/ Council on Foreign Relations https://www.cfr.org/ Global Conflict Tracker https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker Institute for the Study of War https://www.understandingwar.org/

In this episode, I wrap up the last narrative summary of Unit 9 in AP European History with a focus on topics such as Decolonization, Globalization, Second Wave Feminism, Environmental concerns, Technology, and Globalization. Again, this is just main focus on the themes of the unit. Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: https://www.fpri.org/ Council on Foreign Relations https://www.cfr.org/ Global Conflict Tracker https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker Institute for the Study of War https://www.understandingwar.org/

Within this episode I take a narrative look at a summary review for the Cold War in Unit 9: Cold War and the Contemporary World in AP European History. Episode 72 will wrap of the last summary for the entire curriculum. Audio Passage: Winston Churchill, “The Sinews (Seen-Yus) of Peace” (known as the Iron Curtain Speech), Westminster College, March 5th, 1946. “What I have to say about the Communist governments in Eastern Europe is not based on information which is secret or controversial. It is plain for all to see. From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line, all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe lie under Soviet influence and increasing control from Moscow. This is not the liberated Europe we hoped to build.” Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: https://www.fpri.org/ Council on Foreign Relations https://www.cfr.org/ Global Conflict Tracker https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker Institute for the Study of War https://www.understandingwar.org/

Within this episode I went through a narrative summary of Unit 8: 20th Century Global Conflicts for AP European History. Cited Source: War is no longer a clash between armies, but is a clash between nations, between whole populations. Any distinction between belligerents and non-belligerents is no longer admissible… because when nations are at war everyone takes a part in it, the soldier carrying his gun, the woman loading shells in a factory, the farmer growing wheat, the scientist in his laboratory. The limitations applied to the so-called inhuman and atrocious means of war are nothing but international demagogic hypocrisies… [Total] War has to be regarded unemotionally as a science, regardless of how terrible a science. Giulio Douhet, Italian General and father of strategic air power, The Command of the Air, referenced in the 2006 book entitled Masters of the Air by Donald L. Miller to explain the logic of “total war”, 1921.  Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: https://www.fpri.org/ Council on Foreign Relations https://www.cfr.org/ Global Conflict Tracker https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker Institute for the Study of War https://www.understandingwar.org/

Guiding Question: What happens when human progress accelerates faster than human wisdom? Within this episode, I wrestle, philosophically, through the 19th Century as we go from 1815-1914 and discuss the impact of nationalism, imperialism, Social Darwinism, Art, militarism, unification, etc. This is a narrative overview of Unit 7 in AP European History. Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: https://www.fpri.org/ Council on Foreign Relations https://www.cfr.org/ Global Conflict Tracker https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker Institute for the Study of War https://www.understandingwar.org/

Within this episode I share a narrative look at the role of Nationalism throughout the school year in AP European history and attempt to use philosophical methods as a way to wrestle with the topic to help me understand it in a more complex way. Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠ Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: ⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠ Council on Foreign Relations ⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠ Global Conflict Tracker ⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠ Institute for the Study of War ⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

Within this episode we trek through and summarize the working conditions of the Industrial Revolution and how they paved the way for labor movements and ideological reform. This the middle of our series on the Effects of Industrialization. Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠ Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: ⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠ Council on Foreign Relations ⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠ Global Conflict Tracker ⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠ Institute for the Study of War ⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

Within this episode we take a deep dive into understanding Urbanization in Industrial Europe in the 19th Century. This is mainly to help AP European History teachers and students, but I hope it also addresses any philosophical curiosities that you may have about how does this topic still impact us today. Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠ Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: ⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠ Council on Foreign Relations ⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠ Global Conflict Tracker ⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠ Institute for the Study of War ⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

In this short episode, I explain why I haven't posted as much in January due to illnesses. I also share how I will adjust and plan on content and teaching as I have missed school due to illness, snow, and ice for over two weeks now. This will be an interesting challenge. Expect episodes 66-69 to cover the main topics of Unit 6: Effects of Industrialization for AP European History. Then we will quickly summarize Unit 7 for this year before deep diving into Unit 8 content in order to catch up with pacing. More interviews and episodes over moves, videogames, etc. are soon to come. Thank you all! Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠ Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: ⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠ Council on Foreign Relations ⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠ Global Conflict Tracker ⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠ Institute for the Study of War ⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

Within this episode we start with a short, macro narrative look at the Effects of Industrialization before we take a deeper dive in future episodes. Document in Episode: “The industrial system has brought the mass of workers together in great cities, where they are crowded into wretched dwellings, deprived of all cleanliness, ventilation, and health. The streets are narrow, the houses badly built, damp, and filthy. Disease spreads unchecked, and the worker, worn out by excessive labor, poisoned by bad air and poor food, is condemned to an early death. Civilization has here reached its highest point, and its lowest.” Friedrich Engels, German social philosopher and political economist, The Condition of the Working Class in England, written during Engels’s residence in Manchester, 1844–1845; published in Leipzig, 1845.Three Philosophical Questions to End the Episode Can a society call itself “progressive” if economic growth depends on human suffering? Is it the responsibility of governments to limit freedom in the marketplace to protect workers, and if so, where is the line? Does technological advancement make us more human, or does it risk turning people into tools of efficiency? Trapped in History Email Links: [email protected] [email protected] Social Media Outlets: Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/ TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/ Instagram: robertmalcomson Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory Recommended Websites: Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events) ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠ Foreign Policy Research Institute Link: ⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠ Council on Foreign Relations ⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠ Global Conflict Tracker ⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠ Institute for the Study of War ⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠