Thursday, November 15, 2012

Historical Re-Education

Earlier in the week, I stumbled upon a great resource for my historical re-education. It's a podcast called Stuff You Missed in History Class. It features episodes 20-45 minutes in length, on all sorts of different historical topics and events. Clint and I listened to "Who was Tokyo Rose?" the other night, and it was very interesting and enlightening. I'm eager to listen to more and expand my knowledge!

As a side note while we're on the topic of podcasts, I've also been listening to a podcast from one of my favorite blogs (Chiot's Run) called Cultivate Simple. The podcast is described as, "A chronicle of a simple life." If you're interested in gardening, raising chickens, living simply, and the like, I really recommend the blog and podcast. But be prepared, it'll have you itching to begin all sorts of projects and read all kinds of new books. I love it! (Poor Clint though, I'm already petitioning for some chickens and a chicken tractor, thanks in part to this podcast!)

Back to the topic of history, I'm particularly interested in learning more about the Native Americans. I want to know more about their day-to-day lives, their herbal medicines, their agricultural practices, etc. Any book recommendations? I would also like to learn more about the Amish. Yes, I grew up in Amish country, had Amish friends and an Amish babysitter, but I don't know all that much about them, and I think my ignorance in this area is a shame. Plus, there is quite a bit about their lives that I admire and respect, and I'm so interested to know more. Any recommendations there? Lastly (for now), I would love to learn more about the Aztecs, particularly their agricultural practices. I recently read that they obtained seven harvests per year, the most productive agricultural system in world history. Wow. How did they do it? Why has this practice been discontinued? I want to know more!

What interesting things have you been reading or listening to lately? What have you been learning about? I would love to know!

1 comment:

Sharon Telschow said...

These are some very interesting topics you have touched on. I'm constantly blown away by all the things I pick up in the classroom and marvel that I probably was told it too but it has long ago slipped from my mind. Good thing we are allowed to continue learning (and re-learning) throughout our entire lives. My kudos for digging back into the books. I'm totally on board with some of the native cultures. I can't wait to hear what your research brings!