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Years after earning their Ph.D.s in history from Columbia University, Nicole Hemmer and Neil Young had an idea.
Already avid podcast listeners, Ms. Hemmer, now an American history columnist, and Mr. Young, an independent scholar of U.S. history, wanted to create a podcast that reflected the type of conversations they had as historians.
“What we really wanted to do was to bring historical thinking and analysis to contemporary issues,” said Mr. Young, who frequently contributes historical analysis to publications such as The New York Times, Slate and The Huffington Post. Despite having little experience in producing a podcast, Ms. Hemmer and Mr. Young recruited a third co-host, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, and went to work on what became the “Past Present” podcast.
Almost two years later, 10,000 listeners tune in for the weekly show that connects themes from history to present trending topics ranging from the Bill Cosby trial to fidget spinners. The podcast presents a stimulating and unconventional take on world happenings that can captivate anyone regardless of prior knowledge of politics, culture and history.
On Tuesday, July 18, at 7:30 p.m. “Past Present” will make history with its first live show that will take place at John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor. Although topics to be discussed are up in the air as of now, Mr. Young said that given the setting, the history of libraries and a Hamptons-related topic are likely contenders. Keeping to the show’s regular format, he and his co-hosts will aim to find a balance between news-related topics and cultural trends. A question and answer session with the audience after the show is a possibility as well.
“We’re hoping there’s a real energy from doing it in front of a large audience,” Mr. Young shared. “We’re excited about the interactive experience and getting to talk to people in front of us.”
Fans can listen to episodes of the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and pastpresentpodcast.com.
on Jul 10, 2017