History Matters (…and so does coffee!) is a weekly webcast sponsored by the National Council for History Education featuring the teaching and scholarship of Dr. Joanne Freeman, a professor of history at Yale University and NCHE board member. Each episode features a conversation about an historic person, place, event, or piece of evidence; what it reveals; and how it emerges (or reemerges) in America today. Dr. Freeman begins with a short discussion of a topic, often connecting it to documents in the historical record, and then shows how it connects with the challenges and responsibilities of American citizenship in the here and now. Dr. Freeman also takes questions from the live webcast audience about the day's topic. History Matters (…and so does coffee!) is a fun, funny, interactive, educational, and--amidst our current challenges--important webcast for understanding how history happens and its vital relevance today. The National Council for History Education provides professional and intellectual leadership to foster an engaged community committed to the teaching, learning, and appreciation of diverse histories. Through historical inquiry, NCHE empowers learners to research and interpret the past.
Date | Live Air Time (via Zoom) | Topic | Join Link |
January 21, 2021 | 10am ET | TBD | Join here |
January 28, 2021 | 10am ET | TBD | Join here |
2020 Season: History, Then and Now | ||
Date | Topic | Video and Documents |
April 9, 2020 | Contingency Matters | Watch here // Get document here |
April 16, 2020 | Feelings...Nothing More Than Feelings | Watch here // Get document here |
April 23, 2020 | Fouled Foundations | Watch here // Get document here |
April 30, 2020 | The Truth and Lies of Diaries | Watch here // Get documents here, here, and here |
May 7, 2020 | Insights from the Everyday | Watch here // Get documents here |
May 14, 2020 | Being Persnickety with the Press Part One | Watch here // Get documents here |
May 21, 2020 | Being Persnickety with the Press Part Two | Watch here // Get documents here |
May 28, 2020 | Politics: It's Here, It's There, It's Everywhere | Watch here // Get document here |
June 4, 2020 | "Nobody But a Regular Woman": Women and Resistance | Watch here // Get documents here |
June 11, 2020 | "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words" | Watch here // Get document here |
June 18, 2020 | Hissings, Coughings, and Hootings: The Nature of Protest -- Past and Present | Watch here // Get document here |
June 25, 2020 | Fanatical Mobs and Government Plots: The Power and Pull of Conspiracy Theories | Watch here // Get documents here, here, and here |
July 2, 2020 | Hamilton and Hamilton: The Past, the Present, and How History Matters | Watch here |
July 9, 2020 | Fears of Foreign Influence (and a brief Hamilton debriefing) | Watch here // Get document here |
July 16, 2020 | Picking a President: The Founders Had Thoughts | Watch here |
July 23, 2020 | Words Can Be Worth A Thousand Pictures: The Political Power of Words | Watch here |
July 30, 2020 | Queries, Questions, Thoughts, Ideas: A Conversation | Watch here |
August 6, 2020 | (Not) Talking About Slavery in Early America (Part of the NCHE Equity Summit) | Watch here |
August 13, 2020 | Attack of the Amazon Women: Fears of Women and Political Power, 1789 Edition | Watch here // Get document here |
August 20, 2020 | Why The Postal System Matters: A User's Guide to the Postmaster General's Testimony | Watch here |
August 27, 2020 | Doomsday Politics: The Late 1790s and Now | Watch here // Get documents here, here, here, and here |
September 3, 2020 | Campaigning for Office Past and Present: The Dangers of Demagogues | Watch here |
September 10, 2020 | Anything Goes | Watch here |
September 17, 2020 | "WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A REVOLUTION!": The Push and Pull of Extreme Rhetoric | Watch here // Get document here |
September 24, 2020 | Hope | Watch here |
October 1, 2020 | Debates and Democracy: A Conversation with Joanne Freeman and Heather Cox Richardson | Watch here |
October 8, 2020 | When Political Parties Die | Watch here // Get document here |
October 15, 2020 | Democracy in Action? What Do We Hear During Hearings? | Watch here |
October 22, 2020 | Talking Dirty: Discussing Crises at Home and in School | Watch here // Get document here |
October 29, 2020 | Democracy: A Plea | Watch here // Get documents here and here |
November 5, 2020 | The Election: A Conversation | Watch here |
November 12, 2020 | Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Difficult Transitions in Politics | Watch here // Get documents here, here, and here |
November 17, 2020 | The Supreme(s) | Watch here |
November 26, 2020 | Special Thanksgiving Day Messsage from History Matters (...and so does coffee!) | Watch here |
December 3, 2020 | The Founders and Democracy: It's Complicated | Watch here // Get documents here and here |
December 10, 2020 | Anything Goes, the Reboot! | Watch here |
December 17, 2020 | The Bully Pulpit: Bullying as Politics | Watch here |
December 24, 2020 | Special Holiday Episode | Watch here |
December 31, 2020 | Special New Year's Eve Episode | Watch here |
2021 Season: Talking Democracy | ||
Date | Topic | Video and Documents |
January 7, 2021 | Democracy and Violence | Watch here |
January 14, 2021 | A Conversation: When There Are No Words | Watch here |