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A new history podcast caught my attention last week, for more reasons than I can count. Here's a your first look, and my first impressions.
The Last Archive Podcast Review
Podcast Name: The Last Archive
Hosted By: Jill Lepore (you know her from her pieces in The New Yorker; she's also an American History professor at Harvard University).
What It's About: In short, American History. This first season is based around the question, "Who stole truth?" and it's told through true crime stories.
Where You Can Find It: Listen at The Last Archive website or in your favorite podcast player.
Average Episode Length: 42 minutes
Episodes Listened To:
- Episode 1: The Clue of the Blue Bottle
- Episode 2: Detection of Deception
- Episode 3: The Invisible Lady
My First Impressions: Let me start off by saying this: you know that a podcast is something special when it has me diving for my phone to jot down notes. Just 18 minutes into Episode 1, I was hooked on the story and the presentation.
The first few minutes of the episode reminded me of the Cabinet of Curiosities podcast (good company to be in). I knew right then that I was in for something mysterious.
If you don't know who host Jill Lepore is, you might find yourself wondering, Who is this woman who calls herself a historian, talking about the right and wrong ways to do research?
She doesn't do a big introduction of herself in the first episode, hinting instead at what the season's episodes will be about. Then, she dives right into a true crime story from the early 1900s, and you're sucked in.
Part of what makes this show so intriguing is that it's told in the style of a 1930s radio show, with dramatic reenactments and narration. There are a lot of blustery police officers and investigators, dramatically accusing people of things.
Jill breaks in often, explaining the context and significance of things said and done, dropping nuggets of knowledge that had me saying, "OMG, I had no idea..."
A couple things I loved so far:
- Jill flat out tells you when something is a direct quote or made-up (but based on research). I liked that I didn't have to guess about that
- The sound effects! There's a special little tone that is played when something significant is about to be presented. It reminded me of audio tapes from my early 80s elementary school lessons.
I am crazy impressed with all three episodes of The Last Archive that I've listened to, especially Episode 3. It should go without saying that I'm subscribed. The show is also on my short list for Best of 2020.
This show uses true crime and storytelling to teach important lessons in American History in the most interesting way. I highly recommend that you check out The Last Archive podcast.
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