Drafting the Past (podcast): Episode 112

Drafting the Past is an excellent podcast out of the States, one that focuses as much on the research and writing process as the finished product. In September I was lucky enough to feature in Episode 112, speaking with Kate about my practice, publishing, and writing Blood and Dirt.

You can listen to the podcast here: https://www.draftingthepast.com/jared-davidson-treats-history-as-passion-and-practice/

Here's the introduction to the episode:

In this episode, Kate is joined by our first guest from New Zealand, archivist and independent historian Jared Davidson. Though he was not trained as a historian and originally comes from a graphic design background, Jared has written and published five books that focus on overlooked and radical histories of New Zealand, or Aotearoa, as you’ll hear him call it.

During the day, he works at the Alexander Turnbull Library, where he is the Research Librarian Manuscripts. His books have won multiple awards in New Zealand and have covered subjects ranging from anarchists to censorship. His most recent book, Blood and Dirt: Prison Labour and the Making of New Zealand, uncovers the ways that incarcerated labor literally shaped the country’s environment and landscape. If you’re a historian who comes to the subject without formal training, you’ll especially love this episode, but there’s a lot here to learn for all of us, including how to weave compelling individual stories into a strong argument, which Jared does brilliantly in this book.

Make sure to head over and check out the other interviews at https://www.draftingthepast.com/