200,000
March 30, 2026
A funny little thing happened last week while I was detailing the grandeur of our neighbors to the north: Reckoning with Jason Herbert podcast crossed over 200,000 downloads.
Historians are notoriously averse to talking about numbers. But this feels different. This feels somehow real. This feels like it is somehow happening now.
We’ve been at this for a little over three years, slowing gaining traction. There are other history and culture podcasts with more followers. There are newer ones that hit with a cool title and set the algorithms aflame. And Hell, Joe Rogan gets more downloads than that in a single episode.
But this is kind of the way it’s always been. We’re grinders over here. I’ve never been the smartest guy, haven’t always been on the bleeding edge. I left Kentucky years ago thinking something bigger awaited. Flunked out of college twice as a young man, only to grind out a Ph.D. as a 40-something single dad. Moved all over the place. Got slapped down, got back up. Never the smartest, never the strongest. But probably always the stubbornest.
Somewhere along the way, we found this thing. Historians At The Movies started as a watch party in 2018 and this substack and the podcast are the next, larger progressions of that.
The podcast is a small affair. It’s just me contacting and scheduling guests, reading books (2-3 per week on average), watching films when need be, and then conducting the actual episode. On top of that is intrepid producer Fletcher Powell, who signed on to this three years ago because he believed in it. The show wouldn’t run without him.
While we’ve grown, we’ve had a Murderer’s Row of guests, including Oscar- and Emmy winning directors and producers, screenwriters, Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, Tribal Chairmen, historians, astrophysicists, surgeons, men, women, straight folks, gay folks, queer folks, and even the world’s biggest and wrongest Pepsi fan.
But I think the cool thing in all of this is how much of the audience has stayed the audience. In other words, when people find the podcast and this substack, they don’t leave. They become part of the community.
I am burning both ends of the candle lately, and I’ve gotten more than a few private messages from all y’all saying you’ve noticed. I have bigger plans. I don’t invoke Rogan’s name by accident. We talk about wanting a different voice out there. A better voice. Something that represents us.
Folks, I am going for it.
But that doesn’t happen without you. I saw yesterday that this is now the #88 history Substack on this app. That kind of blows my mind. None of this happens without you sharing the posts and the pod and telling your friends about it. It doesn’t happen without the subscribers. I am continually floored by your enthusiasm and your support for what we are trying to do here.
I share all of this with you because I hope that what comes across through Historians At The Movies, the podcast, or this Substack is that idea that you’re part of this too, even if you’re just reading along with some guy you’ve never met. This space belongs to you, too.
So this post is a huge thank you to all of you who continually open your emails and press play on the podcast. I do this for you guys. I’m going harder than I ever have before. And you won’t believe the stuff we are working to bring to you, but I promise it’s bigger than even I imagined was ever possible. But this only happens because of you.
So thank you guys so much. You mean the world to me.
Now let’s go get a million.
Jason
Oh, hey- new folks! I should probably post links. If you want history, the outdoors,pop culture, or storie of some phenomenal people, subscribe right here, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.