This is Drafting the Past, a podcast about the craft of writing history. In this episode, host Kate Carpenter is joined by historian Dr. Marlene Daut. Marlene is a professor at Yale University and is the author of four books, as well as an editor of several more. The most recent two of those books are Awakening the Ashes: An Intellectual History of the Haitian Revolution, which was a winner of the 2024 Frederick Douglass Book Prize, and The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe. She is also the author of many articles and essays in places like The New Yorker, Harper’s, Essence, The Nation, and more. Our conversation covers some burning questions about Marlene’s work, including how she works on more than one book at a time, why you might find her typing into her phone at the grocery store, and she is inspired by the work of investigative journalists. Enjoy Kate’s conversation with Dr. Marlene Daut.

In this episode, host Kate Carpenter is joined by Dr. James Tejani. James is an associate professor of history at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. His first book, A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth: The Making of the Port of Los Angeles—and America came out last year with Norton, and it’s a fascinating history that covers Western settlement, slavery, the Civil War, science and engineering, and much more. Our interview ranges from how Tejani came to think of himself as a writer to how developing tendonitis changed his writing practice.

Welcome back to Drafting the Past, a show about the craft of writing history. In this episode, Kate Carpenter interviews historian Dr. Seth Rockman. Seth is a historian at Brown University. His first book was called Scraping By: Wage Labor, Slavery, and Survival in Early Baltimore, and he is also the co-editor of the volume Slavery’s Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development. He does a great deal of interesting interdisciplinary work on labor history, and he has even been called on to share his research findings on slavery and capitalism with the U.S. House Financial Services Committee. His new book, out now, is called Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery. You’ll love Seth’s responses about how challenging the writing process can be, the joys of archives and the need for deadlines to drag us out of them, and why his dissertation adviser’s advice is always in his ear while he writes.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Drafting the Past. I also want to give a special shout out to some of the newest supporters of the show on Patreon at the third draft tier. Huge thank you to Lauren S., Megan N., Kate D., Katie B., and Jenny S., as well as all of the supporters at the first and second draft tier. Drafting the Past is a one-woman show, and your financial support makes it possible to keep going. If you would like to join these amazing supporters, you can visit patreon.com/draftingthepast to learn more. And of course, you can visit draftingthepast.com to find notes from this and every episode of the show. Until next time, remember that friends don’t let friends write boring history.