This episode is part of the "Authoritarianism 101" project, produced by the American Historical Review for the #AHRSyllbus series. In this episode: Why do elections in authoritarian regimes matter? Historian Mona El-Ghobashy discusses the 2005 general elections in Egypt and the lengths that some voters went to cast their ballot.

This episode is part of the "Authoritarianism 101" project, produced by the American Historical Review for the #AHRSyllbus series. In this episode: Why do authoritarian states seek to control cultural institutions? Historian Patrick Iber discusses the Cuban Revolution and the banning of the short film, P.M., which showed scenes from Havana's night life.

Something nearly every historian has, but almost never discusses, are abandoned projects—historical quests that for one reason or another did not pan out. But what if we didn't keep these experiences to ourselves? What if, instead, we found community around these moments of questioning and struggle? Those possibilities are what a small group of historians explore in this episode. Reprising a session they conducted at the AHA Annual Meeting in 2025, Danna Agmon, Carmen Gitre, Sue Peabody, Christy Pichichero, David Sartorius, and Bianca Premo dive into their experiences of abandoned histories and what they imagine could be gained by bringing these things into the light.

In March 2026, AHR begins the rollout of a new project called "Authoritarianism 101: A Global History." Part of the #AHRSyllabus series, A101 consists of 30 modules from 30 different contributors. Each module centers on a core question about the history of authoritarianism and provides a single primary source that allows history teachers and students to explore that question. Alongside these modules, a soon-to-be-launched website will offer additional resources, like videos and podcast episodes, that pair with specific modules and extend the ability for students to engage these historical questions. In this episode, Daniel speaks with AHR editor Mark Bradley and consulting editor for the #AHRSyllabus project Laura McEnaney about how the A101 project came together and what teachers and students can expected to find when they dive into the modules.

Daniel provides a quick recap of his time at this year's AHA annual meeting in Chicago. In addition to a number of exciting history podcasting sessions, he sat down with Stacy Hartman from the American Council of Learned Societies to discuss Doctoral Futures, a collabo project with AHA, MLA, and the Society for Biblical Literature seeking to address the multifaceted challenges facing doctoral education today.

To kick off 2026, we have a conversation with the American Historical Association's new executive director, Sarah Weicksel. We get into Sarah's path to her current position and her vision for what this next chapter of the AHA could be in the midst of the challenging times we're living in.

Historian Elizabeth Hinton explores W.E.B. Du Bois's 1935 magnum opus Black Reconstruction. We also hear from Eric Foner, Chad Williams, Sue Mobley, and Kendra Field. The AHR chose not to review Black Reconstruction when it was first published. A review by Hinton appears in the December 2022 issue.

What if historians could own up to their mistakes? Or learn to see their mistakes not as weaknesses to be hidden but as a necessary part of the process of growth and discovery? That is what a recent special edition of the History Unclassified section of the journal explores. That edition, "Mistakes I Have Made," includes reflections from nine contributors as well as from section editors Kate Brown and Emily Callaci. We speak, in turn, with all of them in this episode.