Retro Recomendo: History
Our subscriber base has grown so much since we first started nine years ago, that most of you have missed all our earliest recommendations. The best of these are still valid and useful, so we’re trying out something new — Retro Recomendo. Once every 6 weeks, we’ll send out a throwback issue of evergreen recommendations focused on one theme from the past 9 years.
Chart of world history
For 50 years this chart has been hanging on my wall. The Histomap of History is a 5-foot long diagram that visually displays the relative power of ancient nations over the last 4,000 years in 50-year increments. At one glance, this colorful chart gives you the gist of world history. Since it was made in 1950, some of the historical details may be considered old-fashioned now, but this is the chart I use to get a rough idea of our past. Visitors to my studio will usually remark on its ingenious design. Long out of print, you can get a reproduction of a vintage copy for $48. — KK
Musical history of rock
This fantastic podcast, A History of Rock in 500 Songs, does what it says: it traces the history of rock music in 500 songs. Start with the first episode, which looks at 1939’s “Flying Home” by the Benny Goodman Sextet. The most recent episode, numbered 152, is about 1967’s “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield. New episodes come out about once every two weeks. — MF
A timeline of food
I became fascinated with the history of food after experiencing the Last Supper in Pompeii exhibit, where I saw ancient cookware, wine vessels, and preserved foods up close. This food timeline is equally fascinating. Created by a Food History Librarian in 1999, it begins with water and ice and includes transcriptions of ancient recipes. She continues to update it today. — CD
Oblique history
Youtube history is my latest obsession. There’s now a ton of very good history YT channels that tackle history in oblique and idiosyncratic ways. One of my favorite streams is ToldInStone. They tackle the kind of questions I’ve always had, but couldn’t find in books or other programs. Like: how fast was Rome mail? How did the ancients prove their identity? What were their kitchens and bathrooms like? Much further in the past, North02 tackles prehistory. What were humans like 1 million years ago, what kind of life in the Sahara when it was tropically green? And so many more! — KK
World history map
TimeMap.org presents a world mapwith a slider bar that starts at 4000 BC and ends at the present day. As you slide through time, you watch empires rise and fall. Any interesting civilization or event you spot can be instantly researched — just click on it and the relevant Wikipedia article appears in a side panel. — MF
Explore the Tree of Life
OneZoom is an interactive tree of life that lets you zoom in and out to explore connections among 2.2 million living species. It’s a lot to take in, but also fun to explore. I felt small—and grateful—realizing what a tiny branch of life we humans occupy. — CD
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