History in Focus

This July marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence. In recognition of that milestone, the AHR's June 2026 issue is devoted entirely to exploring the material culture of the revolutionary era. Titled "'76 Objects," it was edited by AHA executive director Sarah Weicksel together with co-editors Ashli White, Zara Anishanslin, Kenneth Cohen, and Nathan Perl-Rosenthal. The issue itself contains more than sixty individual contributions from historians writing about particular objects connected to the history of the revolution. In this episode, Daniel speaks with Sarah about the issue, and we hear from a handful of contributors on the objects they wrote about.

Daniel talks with AHR editor Mark Bradley about the changes coming to the journal in March, in particular a new section called the AHR History Lab that will showcase collaborative projects that challenge us to rethink how history is done in the twenty-first century. Then a conversation with contributors to the Odeuropa project, an EU grant funded research endeavor that seeks to excavate, and bring back to life, the smells of Europe's past.

This episode is part of the "Authoritarianism 101" project, produced by the American Historical Review for the #AHRSyllbus series. In this episode: Why do elections in authoritarian regimes matter? Historian Mona El-Ghobashy discusses the 2005 general elections in Egypt and the lengths that some voters went to cast their ballot.

This episode is part of the "Authoritarianism 101" project, produced by the American Historical Review for the #AHRSyllbus series. In this episode: Why do authoritarian states seek to control cultural institutions? Historian Patrick Iber discusses the Cuban Revolution and the banning of the short film, P.M., which showed scenes from Havana's night life.

Something nearly every historian has, but almost never discusses, are abandoned projects—historical quests that for one reason or another did not pan out. But what if we didn't keep these experiences to ourselves? What if, instead, we found community around these moments of questioning and struggle? Those possibilities are what a small group of historians explore in this episode. Reprising a session they conducted at the AHA Annual Meeting in 2025, Danna Agmon, Carmen Gitre, Sue Peabody, Christy Pichichero, David Sartorius, and Bianca Premo dive into their experiences of abandoned histories and what they imagine could be gained by bringing these things into the light.