The Lens: Historians and Popular Media: Recent Episodes
UNC Digital History Lab
The Lens: Historians and Popular Media is the official podcast of the UNC Digital History Lab. Each episode features a conversation with a historian about one or more popular depictions of history, including films, video games, and music. The Lens is hosted by Gabe Moss and Garrett Wright.
On this episode of the Lens, Emma and Craig are joined by Lucas Kelley, a PhD candidate in the History Department at UNC - Chapel Hill. Lucas discusses the historical importance of Tyler Childers' most recent album, Long Violent History. Childers released the album in the aftermath of the widespread protests against police brutality around the country in the summer of 2020. The closing track is a rallying call for White Appalachians to sympathize with the protests. We discuss how Childers' uses historical understandings of Appalachia to make an argument, and the long history of violent protest in the mountain South.
In this episode, Emma and Craig talk with Gabe Moss about the video game franchise Civilization, by Sid Meier. First released in 1991 and now in its sixth installment, the "Civ" games have engrossed generations of players with the opportunity to guide a society from the Stone Age to the modern day. We discuss how the game reflects the assumptions and ideologies of its creators, particularly in its conception of historical progress and inter-civilization competition, as well as the challenges of representing a subject as complex as the entire human past in a playable format.
In the Season 2 premiere, Ph.D. Candidate Sarah Miles talks with Gabe and Craig about the documentary film Les Rose and Quebec's October Crisis of 1970.
In this episode, Emma and Garrett talk to Craig Gill about the depiction of African American golf caddies in the 2000 film The Legend of Bagger Vance.
In this episode, Gabe and Garrett talk to Marlon Londoño about the Netflix series Narcos (2015-16) and Caracol Television’s Escobar: El Patrón del Mal (2012).
In the first episode of 2020, Gabe and Garrett welcome their new colleague Emma Rothberg, who is a PhD Candidate in history at UNC-Chapel Hill as well as a co-director of the Digital History Lab. Emma discusses representations of gender in Little Women, which was nominated for 6 Oscars and won for Best Costume Design.
In this episode, Gabe and Emma chat with Dr. Wayne Lee (Professor of History and Adjunct Professor for the Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense) about the film 1917, which was nominated for 11 Oscars and won awards for Cinematography, Visual Effects, and Sound Mixing.
In this episode, UNC-Chapel Hill PhD Candidate Daniel Morgan draws upon his research on the medieval Mediterranean to discuss representations of the Free Cities of Essos in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire universe and HBO's Game of Thrones.
UNC-Chapel Hill PhD Candidate Daniel Morgan talks about simulations of the medieval past in the popular video game Crusader Kings II.
In this episode, UNC-Chapel Hill PhD Candidate and DHL Co-Director Gabe Moss talks about the 1998 graphic novel 300 and its 2006 film adaptation. This is the second part of a two-part series on popular representations of the ancient world.
In this episode, UNC-Chapel Hill PhD Candidate and DHL Co-Director Gabe Moss talks about the film's connection to the civic mythology of Ancient Rome and the political culture of the late 20th century US. This is the first of a two-part series on popular representations of the ancient world. Tune in in a couple of weeks for a conversation with Gabe about the film and graphic novel 300.