{"id":3968,"date":"2019-05-29T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/?post_type=customer-spotlight&p=3968"},"modified":"2025-05-06T20:21:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T20:21:43","slug":"british-history-podcast","status":"publish","type":"customer-spotlight","link":"https:\/\/news.dream.press\/news\/customer-spotlight\/british-history-podcast\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet The British History Podcast: \u201cHistory, the Way It\u2019s Meant to Be Heard\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Think you hate history? You\u2019re probably wrong, says Jamie Jeffers, founder of The British History\n Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem, he says, isn\u2019t that history is dry or boring \u2014 the problem is that it is taught that way, with rote\n memorization and little relevance to the modern world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are people,\u201d Jeffers says. The stories of history, even ancient history, \u201care relevant and compelling on\n their own. They are only made irrelevant by poor storytellers who forget that simple truth \u2014 that history is the story\n of humanity. It\u2019s about all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With his podcast, which has been in production for almost a decade and has cultivated a loyal fan base over hundreds\n of episodes, Jeffers tells the stories of British history by tapping into that humanity. In his chronological\n retelling, you won\u2019t hear lists of names, treaties, and battles, but rather tales of the cultural underpinnings behind\n the actions of kings and the day-to-day lives of the people of Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Jeffer\u2019s words, it was a happy convergence of \u201ctransatlantic immigration, global financial collapse, and ancient\n human traditions\u201d that took him from unemployed lawyer to full-time podcaster creating the ultimate passion project,\n one that draws on his own personal history, builds his future, and connects us all to the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related:<\/strong> Step-by-Step\n Guide: How to Start a Podcast With WordPress<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

History Through Storytelling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all his grandfather\u2019s fault, Jeffers says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeffers, who moved to the US from the UK when he was a kid, learned the history of his homeland from his grandfather,\n who wanted to make sure young Jeffers heard stories of his ancestors alongside his American education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe took it upon himself to teach me what he knew about British History as I was growing up,\u201d Jeffers says. \u201cHe was\n an amazing storyteller, and so my first experience with history was through hearing about amazing events and figures.\n It was learning history as people traditionally taught it, as an oral history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His grandfather\u2019s storytelling taught Jeffers to love history \u2014 at least until he actually studied the subject in\n school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI went to high school, and history was suddenly reduced to memorizing dates and names for a test,\u201d Jeffers says. \u201cNo\n context, no nuance, no wonder at our shared past. It was such a disappointing experience that I lost interest in the\n study of history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Jeffers went on to study English in college<\/a> and then become\n a lawyer. For the most part, Jeffers tabled his interest in history \u2014 that is, until the recession forced it back into\n his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global Financial Collapse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 2008 financial crisis wasn\u2019t kind to most people \u2014 Jeffers included. As money got tight, he looked around for\n cheap sources of entertainment, leading him straight into the world of podcasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first show I found was The Memory Palace, which is still going, and it became a regular companion when I was at\n the gym or taking my dog, Kerouac, for a walk. The host, Nate DiMeo, couldn\u2019t have known it, but the way he talked\n about little odd stories from history made me feel like I was reconnecting with part of my childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a search for podcasts about British history was disappointing, to say the least. It brought him to a \u201cshow\n that was done by a guy who seemed to be reading random entries off Wikipedia. Incorrect entries, for that matter.\u201d\n Back in those pre-Serial days, podcasting was a new thing \u2014 it was \u201cpretty punk rock,\u201d he says. \u201cFew people knew about\n it, and even fewer people did it, which meant that many topics weren\u2019t being covered and those that were weren\u2019t being\n covered well. Quality was definitely a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeffers did find a history show or two but occasionally found himself wishing for a good podcast that took on a\n chronological history of Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then one day the financial collapse hit closer to home, and Jeffers lost his job as an attorney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe part that people rarely talk about with unemployment is how boring it is,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I decided that any time\n that I wasn\u2019t job searching would go towards making that show I always wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The podcast launched with its first season in May 2011, beginning with the Ice Age and prehistoric Britannia and\n moving into the Roman conquest of Britain. At first, Jeffers\u2019 vision was nothing more than a fun hobby that only his\n parents would listen to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEight years later, it\u2019s my life\u2019s work,\u201d Jeffers says. \u201cOh, and my parents still don\u2019t listen to it. But a lot of\n other people do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the podcast boasts more than 3,000 reviews<\/a> on iTunes and shows up on lists such as\n recommended podcasts for fans of Serial<\/a> and Parade\u2019s list of top history podcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the Battle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Search your favorite podcasting app these days, and you\u2019ll find history shows aplenty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the British History Podcast (BHP) isn\u2019t your run-of-the-mill history podcast, Jeffers says. \u201cMany history\n podcasts are dry accounts that only perk up when they can talk about men swinging swords. They skip over the culture\n of the time, other than as it pertains to kings and generals, and then give you incredibly granular details of men\n killing other men in battle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What interests Jeffers (and his audience) are the stories behind the conflicts. To truly understand and care about an\n action-packed battle, audiences need to appreciate the stakes. \u201cThere\u2019s a reason why The Phantom\n Menace<\/em> sucked, and it wasn\u2019t the fight choreography,\u201d he says. \u201cContext is king, and that\u2019s where our\n focus is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the BHP discusses at length through the political, social, and cultural realities that drive the \u201caction\n scenes\u201d of history. Another way the show\u2019s different: \u201cWe talk about women. It\u2019s strange how often they\u2019re written\n out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeffers cites one of his favorite little-known figures from history: Lady \u00c6thelflaed of Mercia, who reigned in an era\n when women we so overlooked, even vilified, that there weren\u2019t any queens \u2014 just women known as \u201cthe king\u2019s wife.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd then you have the noble daughter of Alfred the Great, a woman named \u00c6thelflaed, who ruled Mercia on her own\n after her husband died. She led armies. She fought off a massive force of Vikings at Chester by throwing everything,\n up to and including the town\u2019s beehives, at them. This woman was so influential that after she died, even though the\n culture was deeply misogynistic, the Mercians chose to follow her daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeffers\u2019 favorite era of British history is the Middle Ages \u2014 \u201cwhich I\u2019m sure most of our listeners already know\n since we\u2019ve spent about seven years in them so far.\u201d The BHP is currently detailing the reign of King \u00c6thelred Unr\u00e6d\n (aka King Ethelred the Unready), who is often blamed for the downfall of the Anglo Saxons \u2014 \u201cthough I think there\u2019s\n plenty of blame to go around.\u201d Jeffers is most looking forward to covering the 15th-century Wars of the Roses, a\n series of English civil wars: \u201cthe diaries we have out of that era are stunning and show the real human toll that this\n conflict was taking on the population.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The planned finish line is the dawn of WWII, which could take another decade to reach. Until then, Jeffers is\n dedicated to dissecting and retelling as many stories and cultural tidbits as he finds relevant \u2014 a quest that fits\n nicely in the podcasting sphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan you imagine The History Channel allowing me to do over 300 episodes of British History and spend literally hours\n just talking about how food was handled in the middle ages? Part of what makes podcasting so amazing is that it allows\n for niche shows like the BHP to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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