It's Not You, It's Me

June 29, 2026

You may have noticed we did not put out a new podcast episode last week. Well, the rumors are true- we are on an indefinite break.

I'd love to say that we are coming back bigger and better than ever, but right now I don't know that to be the case. We started the pod three years ago as a logical continuation of Historians At The Movies, and while it has proven incredibly popular among our niche, we simply haven't broken into the mainstream as we hoped.

We tried tinkering a year or so ago by switching to Reckoning with Jason Herbert and opening up the dialogue beyond history or film. We've also tried to spotlight Native stories and public lands as much as possible. And we've landed some HUGE guests. But we can't seem to break beyond our own little (but rabid) fan base. For that, you need to have a ton of seed money and a reliable backer (I don't), some claim to fame or a crazy inventive idea (not entirely), or look like a Greek god (alas, sexual comeliness never quite came to me). Oh, and a crap ton of time.

I've had Matthew McConaughey in my head lately. In his memoir Green Lights he talks about having too much on his plate and doing three things ok simply wasn't good enough for him. He made a tough decision to cut one loose. Well, I have my commitments at the Forest Service, this substack, and the pod, along with the obligations of being a fairly average single dad to two teens and a partner to Amy. Then there's the emails. Presses, unsolicited guests, and the occasional tech genius who hasn't figured out how to unsubscribe. Hundreds per week.

Each episode takes about 15-20 hours to produce, especially since I actually read the books before an author comes on. It's a lot. And since the podcast costs over a thousand dollars to produce each month (tech and labor), the reality is that right now I have a really expensive hobby.

And that got me to thinking- don't I have other hobbies? Fishing, hiking, reading what I want. I miss the gym. If I don't get active again I'll wither to the point that I look like I teach Civil War memory at some university in Alabama. And no one wants to be that guy. Plus, we have fire season coming on. And that demands a lot of attention.

Oh, and a vacation. I desperately need one of those, which I'm starting tomorrow with Amy (more on that later).

I am a little hesitant to let go completely. We've built HATM into the epicenter of history and film over the last eight years and I'm not about to cede that ground.

So for now, I'm taking a little break. We may be back in the fall. We may not. I haven't decided. And that, in and of itself, is quite liberating.

But in the meantime, what should you listen to? As always, I have thoughts. Here are a few history pods that you might not know but are absolutely worth checking out:

The American West with Dan Flores. Its a pod that fuses environmental history into the iconic American landscape to talk about how we got here and where we are going.

American Medieval with Matthew Gabriele. It's a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, expert guests explore either some fascinating part of the medieval world, or some way Americans have used this period to help them understand themselves.

American Campus Podcast with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd. Confused about higher education? This is a social and political history of academia.

Drafting the Past with Kate Carpenter. Each episode features a new historian talking about how they create history. You get to see the sausage being made.

This Guy Sucked with Claire Aubin. Every historian finds douchebags in their research. Claire's pod outs them in fun ways. Brilliant idea and well executed.

OK, so there's your quick news. And please don’t take this as some end of the world- I'm just taking a bit to recharge and maybe reconceptualize what this space is and can be. I want the pod to continue. I think it's a smart show- we just gotta figure out how to blow it up. In the meantime, this substack will continue. So stay tuned for more here.

Jason