In this episode, Jake finally watches The Patriot - yes, the Mel Gibson blockbuster that a whole generation absorbed as Revolutionary War "history" in the summer of 2000. Joined by Justin and Molly, the conversation turns into a lively (and occasionally horrified) public history breakdown of what the film gets right, what it invents wholesale, and what it reveals about the era that made it as much as the era it claims to depict.

The trio digs into the Southern Campaign, the myth of "we won because we hid behind trees," and the film's habit of sanding down the Revolution's hardest truths - especially slavery and the brutal civil war nature of the conflict in the Carolinas.

Along the way, they talk about why Hollywood keeps reaching for simple villains, why the movie is way too long, and why popular culture still shapes how Americans walk into the 250th anniversary of independence.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• Why the Southern theater matters - and why most people never learn it
• The Swamp Fox myth, guerrilla warfare, and what actually won the war
• Slavery, Dunmore's Proclamation, and the realities the film dodges
• British vs. Loyalist violence and the Revolution's "first civil war" energy
• Why the movie feels like a 1990s action film dressed in 1770s clothing
• Jason Isaacs' villain performance - and his own verdict on the movie's "history"

In this episode, Jake Wynn is joined by historian, archaeologist, and podcaster Damian Shiels for a wide-ranging conversation about Irish immigrants in the Civil War-era United States Army and the long road to Damian's new book, Green and Blue: Irish Americans in the Union Military, 1861–1865.

You can purchase the book here

Jake and Damian dig into the pension files, soldiers' letters, and overlooked working-class experiences that form the backbone of the book. Along the way, they talk about Irish service beyond the famous "green flag" units, the economic realities that shaped Irish enlistment, and why immigrant soldiers have too often been pushed to the margins of Civil War history.

The conversation also turns outward - to public history, podcasting, and how the American Civil War is remembered (and misunderstood) on both sides of the Atlantic.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• Green and Blue and what Irish soldiers' letters reveal about the Civil War
• Pension files as one of the richest untapped sources in American history
• Irish immigrants serving everywhere—not just in the Irish Brigade
• Class, economics, and why men fought (and stayed) in the Union Army
• Bounties, substitutes, and the myths around "bad" late-war soldiers
• Public history, podcasting, and why the Civil War still matters globally

If you enjoy the show - make sure to give us a rating and review the show!

Here are some more notes:

You can find the Transatlantic podcast here

And here's Damian's Irish in the American Civil War blog

In this episode, Jake and Justin are joined by public historian Codie Eash of the Seminary Ridge Museum for a deep dive into one of the most contentious and misunderstood chapters in Gettysburg's postwar history: the fight over Confederate monuments on the battlefield.

What feels like a modern debate turns out to be anything but - Union and Confederate veterans arguing bitterly about memory, treason, and reconciliation as early as the 1880s.

The conversation centers on the first Confederate monument erected at Gettysburg, why it appeared when it did, and why Union veterans immediately pushed back. Along the way, Codie traces how battlefield monuments were negotiated, resisted, and weaponized - revealing that the "Lost Cause" argument didn't emerge quietly or uncontested, but sparked outrage from the very men who had fought the war.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• The first Confederate monument at Gettysburg—and why it caused an uproar
• Union veterans calling treason exactly what it was
• Bureaucracy, loopholes, and missing meeting minutes
• Why monument debates started long before the 21st century
• Bradley Tyler Johnson saying the quiet part out loud about the Lost Cause and power
• How Gettysburg became a battlefield for memory, not just history

Seminary Ridge Museum: https://www.seminaryridgemuseum.org/

Podcast Thumbnail: MD Center for History and Culture - 2nd MD Monument Group Portrait, October 28, 1894