The AskHistorians Podcast showcases the knowledge and enthusiasm of the AskHistorians community, a forum of nearly 1.4 million history academics, professionals, amateurs, and curious onlookers. The aim is to be a resource accessible to a wide range of listeners for historical topics which so often go overlooked. Together, we have a broad array of people capable of speaking in-depth on topics that get half a page on Wikipedia, a paragraph in a high-school textbook, and not even a minute on the History channel. The podcast aims to give a voice (literally!) to those areas of history, while not neglecting the more commonly covered topics. Part of the drive behind the podcast is to be a counterpoint to other forms of popular media on history which only seem to cover the same couple of topics in the same couple of ways over and over again.
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AskHistorians Podcast 055 - History and Folklore
Ronald James, a historian and folklorist with 30 years of experience with the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office, Inductee into the Nevada Writer's Hall of Fame, former chair of the National Historic Landmarks Committee, and author of more than a dozen books, including The Roar And The Silence: A History Of Virginia City And The Comstock Lode and Introduction to Folklore: Traditional Studies in Europe and Elsewhere, takes some time to speak to the AskHistorians Podcast.
This episode looks at the development and practice of folklore as an academic discipline, while also exploring folkloric traditions from Cornwall, particular those spirits known as "Knockers." The importance of folktales and legends in everyday life are discussed, as well how those tales can change over time and in different situations, such as immigration from Cornwall to the American West. (59min)