Educational Podcast Extra Credit

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Educational Podcasts


Revisionist History Podcast by: Malcolm Gladwell and Panoply Media

     Since I am a history education major, I decided to do my Extra Credit post on a podcast dealing with history. It just so happens that one of the recomendations was for a podcast called "Revisionist History." This podcast is aimed at going back in history and taking a second look at an event to see if how we look at an event today has changed from what it was back then. As Gladwell says, "Because sometimes the past deserves a second change." This podcast does just the thing. Below is the link to the homepage of the podcast. 


     One of my interests in the field of history is foreign relations with the Middle-East. Since the culture of the United States differs so much with that of the Middle-East, it has always been a deep interest of mine to explore a culture that is different from the one I live in. This podcast had an episode in season 2, episode 2 that interested me. It was entitled "The Road to Damascus" This podcast was about an Islamic extremest who helps the CIA. Gladwell interviews John Rizzo who wrote a book about investigating the CIA. The Podcast covered an investigator journalist who studied the CIA throughout his time as a journalist. One story that Gladwell found interesting was one about an asset the CIA used to get information in the Middle-East. This "asset" was an Islamic extremist who helped the CIA. He helped the CIA because he felt like he needed to undo something he had done in the past. The asset worked with the CIA and didn't ask for much money for providing information. The asset was trustworthy and reliable as the information he provided was legit. The asset was referred to as "Al Pacino." After a story was published about Al Pacino helping the CIA, Al Pacino felt like he was in danger. The CIA offered him safety but he refused. The CIA then lost touch with him and were never to hear from him again. The man that was once a sworn enemy against the United States and Europe, who was planting bombs and killing innocent people, had a change of mind. He walked into an American embassy and asked if he could help to make up for all of the bad he has done against the West in the past. After investigative journalist found out about Al Pacino, story got out about the CIA hiring a terrorist and all hell broke loose. The CIA was forced to denounce the support of Al Pacino because he was a terrorist. Even though Al Pacino only wanted to make up for all the harmful things he had done in the past, the U.S. wouldn't let him. After the story leaked into the public, Al Pacino's former terrorist friends tracked him down and killed him. The CIA looked foolish for hiring a terrorist and Al Pacino was killed for working with the CIA. Talk about a lose lose situation.

     So, how can listening to this podcast have an impact on me as a teacher? Well, there are many ways. The introduction of revisionist history is an important topic for history teachers to explore while teaching. It is important for history teachers to realize that how an event is taught in history may not be how it actually happened. History teachers need to keep this in mind. For example, teaching students that English settlers came over to the United States to explore a new nation that values freedom is a great topic to teach. However, looking at it from a revisionist history point of view, you also have to realize that when the English came over to the United States there were already people on this land. The early English settlers coming to the United States was a good thing because it created the great nation we live in today, but it also put live of indigenous Native Americans in danger. By exploring revisionist history, teachers can have a broader take on history by looking it through multiple lenses not just the American or Western lens.
   
     In a future classroom, this can be used in many different ways. For example, you can have an entire unit on revisionist history and have the students take a look at an event in history through a different lens than the traditional lens that it is usually taught. They can take a look at an event like post 9/11. With an event like this, instead of looking at it through the lens of an American citizen, the students can take a look at it through the eyes of what it was like to be a Muslim American at that time. This can teach the students many things about events by looking at it through different angles.




Picture taken from http://revisionisthistory.com/about
Citation: Gladwell, Malcolm. "Revisionist History Podcast." Revisionist History, http://revisionisthistory.com/about.


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