Podcast Recommendations: Historical Legacies in Motion

How do we look at the legacies of those who came before us? And what happens when those legacies change? These podcasts dig in.

Welcome to the EarBuds newsletter! Whether this is your first email from us or your 400th, Iā€™m very thankful for your readership. Iā€™m grateful that you choose to open and read this newsletter however often you do so. And I hope youā€™ve discovered some great podcasts along the way.

As always, youā€™re invited to curate a list. And please write in with feedback, ideas, questions, anything.

Happy listening!

Arielle Nissenblatt, EarBuds founder

Podcast Picks

Curated by Michael Washington Brown

Hereā€™s why Michael chose this weekā€™s podcasts:

I chose these podcasts because each one amplifies voices and histories that have been overlooked, erased, or marginalized. Together, they create a listening journey that restores dignity and visibility to forgotten legacies.

Together, these selections broaden our collective sense of historical justice and invite listeners to engage with stories that reshape how we understand the past.

Michael Washington Brown, November 2025 EarBuds curator

Podcast Recommendations on Legacy & History

Echoes In The First Person podcast cover art

Echoes in the First Person

This episode reclaims the legacy of James Hewlett, the first Black Shakespearean actor in America, and the African Grove Theatre he helped build.

It threads together themes of erasure, resilience, and cultural memory, inviting listeners to reflect on who gets remembered and why.

Trapped History podcast cover art

Trapped History

This episode restores the legacy of Elżbieta Zawacka, known as ā€œAgent Zo,ā€ a WWII resistance fighter whose courage and leadership saved countless lives.

It highlights how her contributions were sidelined in mainstream history, reclaiming her place among the women who shaped resistance movements.

Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast cover art

Stuff You Missed in History Class

This episode honors Mary Golda Ross, the first Indigenous woman aerospace engineer in the United States.

It highlights her groundbreaking contributions to classified projects and her quiet trailblazing in STEM, reclaiming a legacy too often left out of mainstream history.

AfroQueer podcast cover art

AfroQueer

This episode follows BeBe Zahara Benet, the first winner of RuPaulā€™s Drag Race, tracing her journey from Cameroon to international stages.

It celebrates Black queer artistry and resilience, showing how performance can become both survival and liberation.

Telling Our Twisted Histories podcast cover art

Telling Our Twisted Histories

This episode dismantles the colonial fairytale around Pocahontas and restores complexity to her story.

Indigenous hosts reclaim the narrative, challenging stereotypes and inviting listeners to unlearn distortions that have shaped mainstream history.

More from curator Michael Washington Brown on his podcast picks:

Echoes in the First Person, my podcast, spotlights James Hewlett and the African Grove Theatre, reclaiming Black theatrical history. Trapped History uncovers unsung heroes like Agent Zo, ensuring resistance stories are not lost. Stuff You Missed in History Class highlights Mary Golda Ross, an Indigenous aerospace engineer whose contributions deserve recognition. AfroQueer centers LGBTQ+ African narratives, celebrating resilience and cultural innovation. Telling Our Twisted Histories reclaims Indigenous words and stories distorted by colonization, challenging dominant narratives.

Michael Washington Brown, EarBuds Curator

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Cruise experts Dan and Mikkel Woodruff share insider secrets to help you discover the most incredible small ship voyages you never knew existed.

Sherry Zhang committed suicide in 1989. When she died, she left behind a baby daughter and unbeknownst to her family, dozens of cassette tapes recording her innermost thoughts. Years later, Luisa, the child Sherry left behind, learns about these tapes and decides to finally get to know the mother she lost through her own words.

But the more she listens, the more questions she has.

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Community

šŸ’”Discover Podcast Magic. Itā€™s the simplest way to capture insights from podcasts. But how? Hereā€™s how!

  • Screenshot a moment when you hear something you love (works from the podcast player or lock screen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts)

  • Email it to [email protected]

  • We email you back a transcript + a video clip within 30 seconds

  • Bonus: if you use the same email associated with your Sublime account, your clips will automatically show up in your Sublime library.

šŸ‘¾For the EarBuds Kids Podcast Newsletter, Rebecca Cunningham shares episodes about video games. If you canā€™t get the kids to stop playing video games, maybe an easier offramp is podcasts about them? Let us knowšŸ¤ž

šŸ™ƒCan memes help you get your podcast in front of the right audience? We think so. Join Arielle Nissenblatt and Danielle Bezalel for a live event on December 3rd (or sign up for the replay) and weā€™ll make our case.

šŸ’–In Podcast The Newsletter, Lauren Passell recommends Face Off: The U.S. vs. China. She writes, ā€œ[the show] is hosted by Jane Perlez and made by Rowhome Productions that is explaining China-U.S. relations that goes deeper and to more interesting places than mainstream media, and gets a lot more personal and human, too.ā€ Listen to the first episode.

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Podcast news from Podnews

Spotlight

American Medieval is a podcast about the Middle Ages, but with an American twist. Each week, your host Prof. Matthew Gabriele is joined by expert guests to explore not just the Middle Ages themselves, but how and why they have such a hold on our collective imagination.

After all, if America has never been modern, itā€™s because weā€™ve always been slightly medieval.

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