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

In this special holiday episode, Jake, Justin, and Molly gather to talk about It's a Wonderful Life - not just as a Christmas classic, but as a deeply historical film shaped by war, economic depression, and the unsettled, unstable world of 1946. What starts as a cozy movie night quickly turns into a wide-ranging conversation about community, capitalism, trauma, and why Frank Capra's vision of America still hits a nerve nearly eighty years later.

The trio digs into the film's historical moment, Jimmy Stewart's wartime experience, and why Bedford Falls feels both comforting and painfully distant in 2025. Along the way, they wrestle with Mr. Potter, Mary Bailey, the Great Depression, and the unsettling realization that many of us may already be living in Potterville.

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

• It's a Wonderful Life as a post–World War II home-front story
• Jimmy Stewart, combat trauma, and why George Bailey feels so real
• Bedford Falls, Potterville, and the economics of community
• Mary Bailey as the emotional backbone of the entire film
• Why the FBI once thought this movie was communist
• "We don't want characters here"

Happy holidays - and here's to finding a little Bedford Falls wherever we can.

In this episode, Jake sits down with public historian EJ Murphy of the Destination Freedom Project at the Waverly Community House to talk about abolition, the Underground Railroad, and the way slavery's political shockwaves reached even the smallest Northern communities before the Civil War.

Jake and EJ dig into how Waverly became a key stop on a regional freedom network connecting places like Wilkes-Barre, Montrose, and the Southern Tier of New York. They also talk about the challenges of telling these stories with limited sources, what the Fugitive Slave Act changed on the ground, and why local history hits hardest when you realize it was never "just local."

Learn more about Waverly's Destination Freedom and plan a visit:

https://waverlywalkingtours.com/

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

• Waverly's role in the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Pennsylvania

• The Fugitive Slave Act and why it radicalized communities in the North

• A letter about organized resistance - and "pockets loaded with pistols"

• George Keys and the growth of Waverly's Black community

• Native American paths that shaped escape routes and regional geography

• Why visitors keep saying: "I grew up here…and I had no idea"

On the night of October 8, 1871, a wall of fire roared out of the Wisconsin woods and erased the town of Peshtigo in a matter of minutes. More than 1,200 people were killed, making it the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history - yet its story was overshadowed almost immediately by the Great Chicago Fire burning the same night.

In this episode, Jake takes listeners into the story of the disaster and its surprising legacy.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:
• Jake's role as "Mr. Sadman" — and why grim stories matter
• Civil War veterans who survived the battlefield only to face Peshtigo
• Peshtigo as the "Sodom" of the Upper Midwest
• The shockingly destructive power of fire and wind
• How firestorms evolved into a weapon of modern war
• What Peshtigo can teach us as urban wildfires again reshape American life

In this episode, we look ahead to America's 250th anniversary and ask what this milestone should mean in 2026 and beyond.

The conversation ranges from the messy, decade-long road to revolution to the very local ways towns like Frederick, Maryland, are already marking the moment with traditions like Repudiation Day. Along the way, the crew wrestles with how we remember the founding, who gets included in that story, and what it means to celebrate a past that was never as simple as the textbooks made it seem.

Jake Wynn, Justin Voithofer, and Molly Keilty dig into the Revolution as a civil war, the long shadow of alliances with powers like France, and the way Ken Burns' new documentary series could reshape what many Americans think they know about 1776. They also trace how the founding documents were built for change - and how modern politics has drifted from that idea.

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

• America 250 and why one big birthday isn't enough

• Repudiation Day in Frederick and Frederick, Maryland's colonial protest

• Molly's London fog and accidental Tory vibes ☕

• The Revolution as a civil war between neighbors

• George Washington: bad tactician, essential rebel-in-chief

• The Patriot, Heath Ledger, and Jake's historical movie watching habits

In this episode, we dive into Netflix's Death by Lightning, the gripping new series about President James Garfield's short presidency, his assassination, and the troubled mind of his killer, Charles Guiteau. Drawing from Candice Millard's acclaimed book Destiny of the Republic, the show brings to life an era of bare-knuckle politics, deep factionalism, and a presidency undone by one man's delusions.

Jake, Justin, and Molly unpack the series, the wild political landscape of the 1880s, and the strange cultural crosscurrents that shaped Garfield's world.

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

• Brains in jars
• Patronage politics, federal jobs, and the fight between reformers and Stalwarts
• Charles Guiteau's spiraling madness
• How Civil War medicine killed James Garfield
• Free love and the Oneida Community
• Nick Offerman playing presidents