I spent many, many weeks of my early 20s exploring Romania in the late Ceausescu and early post-totalitarian years, a fascinating country that I never got enough of…. Read more »
Article Topic: World History
Explaining the “pirate king” Henry Avery on Discovery’s Expedition Unknown
This past fall I met up with Josh Gates, host and producer of Discovery Channel’s Expedition Unknown, at London’s oldest pub, The Prospect of Whitby to talk about the legendary… Read more »
Was there any historic truth to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean films?
Dan Lefebrve has a popular podcast — Based on a True Story — in which he asks an expert how well a given Hollywood film matched up to historical reality…. Read more »
Reviewing David Hackett Fisher’s Albion’s Seed sequel in Washington Monthly
More than thirty years ago, Brandeis historian David Hackett Fischer resuscitated the effort to develop a historical narrative of the United States with a book called Albion’s Seed, a sweeping… Read more »
Discussing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with regional experts, Mar. 8
In a single week, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has shattered the post Cold War order, cast Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his country into Iran-like isolation, set nuclear power… Read more »
Talking pirates on Spotify’s hit podcast Real Pirates
Bristol, England-based podcast producers Noiser recently reached out to interview me for an extended series they’re doing for Spotify on the golden age pirates whose story I reassembled in my… Read more »
Reviewing Alex von Tunzelmann’s “Fallen Idols” in the Washington Post
In Sunday’s Washington Post I reviewed Alex von Tunzelmann’s new book, Fallen Idols: Twelve Statues that Made History. It’s extremely topical, providing historical and comparative context for thinking about the evaluation and potential… Read more »
9/11 Started Here, in Portland, Maine
The leader of the 9/11 hijackers, Mohamed Atta, spent his last night and the morning of September 11th on the outskirts of Portland, Maine, amid the mundane commercial sprawl of… Read more »
Talking Blackbeard on Noiser’s “Short History Of…” podcast
Noiser, the UK-baed podcast producer, has launched a new history series, “Short History Of…” and, appropriately enough for company headquartered in Bristol, included an episode on Blackbeard for their inaugural… Read more »
Republic of Pirates, now in Lithuanian
Have you been waiting for a Lithuanian edition of The Republic of Pirates? Of course you have. We all have. And now the waiting is over. Leidykla Briedis, the Vilnius… Read more »
COLIN WOODARD is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist. He is the author of six books that have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and inspired an NBC television drama. He is currently Director of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Affairs at Salve Regina University. As State and National Affairs Writer at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram he won a 2012 George Polk Award and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2016. He is a contributing editor at POLITICO and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, Smithsonian and dozens of other major publications.