Breaking History - Podcast Rankings and reviews

I’m not sure if it is his voice or the presentation but Lake presents everything in a way that is soothing. Maybe he points out that we have been here before or that there is sanity amongst many journalist. I learn so much and am grateful Eli is in the world…The podcast world is better because of him.

As a retired editor of university press books and journals mostly focused on so-called critical studies, I greatly appreciated the episode on *Orientalism*. The distinction Lake makes between Said being a Middle Eastern activist-intellectual rather than a Middle Eastern scholar is especially trenchant given that the former mode predominates among most university faculty these days (in the humanities, anyway). Which, unfortunately, leads to my only disappointment: no mention of Said's immense influence on Barack Obama, which I believe was crucial to the former president's otherwise inexplicable support for the mullahs of Iran (who, it seems, played him quite well).

Eli ranges across many topics of interest and I always take a broader perspective away from his informative and entertaining programs. I sometimes wish he would make a sharper point but that’s probably why his sober accounting is so valuable. He does take a stand but it’s not off the rack. If there could be such a thing as a nuanced battle cry, he’s full throated.

Eli is wonderful! He connects history to what is happening today to create a more detailed picture of what is happening in todays events around the world. I could not be happier with a listen to this great pod from The Free Press. Keep rolling them out Eli and Barri!!

As much as I love The Free Press and its efforts towards being fair and balanced, this podcast is essentially “orange man bad” dressed up as a history podcast. The stories are interesting and enjoyable, but the “so what” is always a thinly veiled criticism of the American Right with an intonation of arrogance. It would be nice if their coverage were making an effort to look at both sides of the coin rather than just stretching stories from the last to critique one side of the modern political aisle.