Ben Franklin's World
banner
bfworld.bsky.social
Ben Franklin's World
@bfworld.bsky.social
🔍 Curious about the past? So are we! 🎧 Join award-winning historian @[email protected] as we time-travel through early America to uncover the people, ideas & stories that shaped our world. New eps every other Tuesday! 🇺🇸 #HistoryMatters
The Revolution wasn’t just fought in Boston or Philadelphia—it raged in the West too. ⚔️🌄

Ep. 374 explores how Native nations, settlers, and soldiers shaped the war far beyond the eastern seaboard.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/374

#VastEarlyAmerica #History #AmericanRevolution
November 26, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Colonists didn’t “tame” the land—they built over Indigenous farms.

In Ep. 426, Michael Wise reveals how Native people shaped forests, fields, and food systems. Explore Indigenous agriculture in our latest episode.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
November 26, 2025 at 6:11 PM
What foods do you connect with early American history?

Do any come from Indigenous traditions?

In Ep. 426, we explore Native foodways and the myths that hide them.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
November 26, 2025 at 11:41 AM
The Wampanoag grew corn on Cape Cod during the Little Ice Age. How? Generations of seed science!

In Ep. 426, Michael Wise reveals how Native food systems were dynamic, scientific, and deliberate.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
November 25, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Jane Spurgin’s husband sided with the Crown. She chose the revolutionaries' cause.

In Ep. 380 of Ben Franklin’s World, Cynthia Kierner explores one woman’s struggle through loyalty, loss, and revolution.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/380

#VastEarlyAmerica #History #AmericanRevolution
November 25, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Succotash. Tamales. Cornbread.

Foods we call “American” often have Indigenous roots.

In Ep. 426, Michael Wise helps us see Native cuisine—hidden in plain sight.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
Episode 426: Michael Wise, Beyond the First Thanksgiving: Indigenous Agriculture and the Hidden Science of Native Foodways
Discover how Wampanoag and Cherokee farmers shaped early America through Indigenous agriculture, Native foodways, and hidden science.
benfranklinsworld.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:42 PM
As Thanksgiving nears, let’s rethink what we’ve been taught about Native food and land.

Historian Michael Wise joins Ben Franklin’s World to explore Indigenous agriculture.

🎧 Listen now: benfranklinsworld.com/426
Episode 426: Michael Wise, Beyond the First Thanksgiving: Indigenous Agriculture and the Hidden Science of Native Foodways
Discover how Wampanoag and Cherokee farmers shaped early America through Indigenous agriculture, Native foodways, and hidden science.
benfranklinsworld.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Myths: "Native people didn’t farm." "They were always hungry."

These myths shaped history—and justified land theft.

In Ep. 426 of Ben Franklin’s World, Michael Wise busts these myths and reframes Indigenous foodways.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
Episode 426: Michael Wise, Beyond the First Thanksgiving: Indigenous Agriculture and the Hidden Science of Native Foodways
Discover how Wampanoag and Cherokee farmers shaped early America through Indigenous agriculture, Native foodways, and hidden science.
benfranklinsworld.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:31 PM
A burned British ship. No one confessed. 🇬🇧🔥

Ep. 373 dives into the Gaspee Affair, a bold act of resistance in 1772 Rhode Island that set the stage for revolution.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/373

#GaspeeAffair #VastEarlyAmerica #History #AmericanRevolution #Revolution250
November 24, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Colonists didn’t “tame” the land—they built over Indigenous farms.

In Ep. 426, Michael Wise reveals how Native people shaped forests, fields, and food systems. Explore Indigenous agriculture in our latest episode.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
November 24, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Why do we overremember 1776 but forget the centuries around it?
Historian Paul Kahan says Philly’s past is richer—and more chaotic—than we think.
🧭 Dive into Episode 411 of Ben Franklin’s World: benfranklinsworld.com/411

#Philly #Revolution250 #AmericanRevolution #EarlyAmHist #VastEarlyAmerica
Episode 411: Paul Kahan, Philadelphia: An Early History
Two hundred fifty years ago, in May 1775, delegates from thirteen British North American colonies gathered in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. Why was Philadelphia chosen as the seat of Congress? What made the city a critical hub for
benfranklinsworld.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:52 PM
After the Revolution, Americans didn’t just celebrate independence—they shaped its story. 🧠📖

Join Michael Hattem and explore how memory, myth, and meaning made 1776 a cornerstone of national identity.

#MemoryStudies #VastEarlyAmerica #History #AmericanRevolution #Revolution250
Episode 408: Michael Hattem, The Memory of 1776
Michael Hattem joins us to discuss the American Revolution and its memory, drawing on details from his book, The Memory of ‘76.
benfranklinsworld.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:36 PM
What foods do you connect with early American history?

Do any come from Indigenous traditions?

In Ep. 426, we explore Native foodways and the myths that hide them.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
November 22, 2025 at 4:44 PM
The Wampanoag grew corn on Cape Cod during the Little Ice Age. How? Generations of seed science!

In Ep. 426, Michael Wise reveals how Native food systems were dynamic, scientific, and deliberate.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
November 21, 2025 at 9:34 PM
💔 "It was awful to have to whip my own wife and sister."
—Harry, an enslaved driver in Antigua

This week on Ben Franklin’s World, we explore the emotional toll of survival under slavery’s most brutal labor system.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/418

#History #Slavery
November 21, 2025 at 8:27 PM
“There’s something corrupt in his character…”

The trial of Robert Newburgh reveals how rumors, masculinity, and queerness shaped British military life—and ideas of morality in the Revolution.

🎙️ Dive into BFW's new episde: www.benfranklinsworld.com/414

#History #Pride #QueerHistory
November 20, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Who were the Moravians, and why did they come to early America? ⛪🕊️

In Ep. 356, Paul Peucker explores this small but influential church’s missions, communities, and beliefs in colonial North America.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/356

#ReligiousHistory #VastEarlyAmerica #History #Religion
Episode 356: Paul Peucker, The Moravian Church in North America
Paul Peucker, the Director of the Moravian Archives, joins us to investigate the establishment of the Moravian Church in North America.
benfranklinsworld.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Succotash. Tamales. Cornbread.

Foods we call “American” often have Indigenous roots.

In Ep. 426, Michael Wise helps us see Native cuisine—hidden in plain sight.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
Episode 426: Michael Wise, Beyond the First Thanksgiving: Indigenous Agriculture and the Hidden Science of Native Foodways
Discover how Wampanoag and Cherokee farmers shaped early America through Indigenous agriculture, Native foodways, and hidden science.
benfranklinsworld.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:14 PM
As Thanksgiving nears, let’s rethink what we’ve been taught about Native food and land.

Historian Michael Wise joins Ben Franklin’s World to explore Indigenous agriculture.

🎧 Listen now: benfranklinsworld.com/426
Episode 426: Michael Wise, Beyond the First Thanksgiving: Indigenous Agriculture and the Hidden Science of Native Foodways
Discover how Wampanoag and Cherokee farmers shaped early America through Indigenous agriculture, Native foodways, and hidden science.
benfranklinsworld.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:21 AM
The filmmakers behind Ken Burns’ The American Revolution say they didn’t set out to make an argument.

They made a discovery.

What will YOU discover when you revisit the Revolution through their lens?

🎧 Listen here: benfranklinsworld.com/425

#KenBurnsPBS #AmericanRevolution $Revolution250
November 19, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Myths: "Native people didn’t farm." "They were always hungry."

These myths shaped history—and justified land theft.

In Ep. 426 of Ben Franklin’s World, Michael Wise busts these myths and reframes Indigenous foodways.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
Episode 426: Michael Wise, Beyond the First Thanksgiving: Indigenous Agriculture and the Hidden Science of Native Foodways
Discover how Wampanoag and Cherokee farmers shaped early America through Indigenous agriculture, Native foodways, and hidden science.
benfranklinsworld.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Colonists didn’t “tame” the land—they built over Indigenous farms.

In Ep. 426, Michael Wise reveals how Native people shaped forests, fields, and food systems. Explore Indigenous agriculture in our latest episode.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
November 19, 2025 at 11:41 AM
What foods do you connect with early American history?

Do any come from Indigenous traditions?

In Ep. 426, we explore Native foodways and the myths that hide them.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
November 18, 2025 at 8:34 PM
What part of the American Revolution do you wish more people knew about?

We asked the filmmakers behind Ken Burns’ The American Revolution what surprised them most—and their answers were 🔥

🎧 Listen now: benfranklinsworld.com/425

#AskHistorians #HistoryTalk #KenBurns #BFW
November 18, 2025 at 5:36 PM
The Wampanoag grew corn on Cape Cod during the Little Ice Age. How? Generations of seed science!

In Ep. 426, Michael Wise reveals how Native food systems were dynamic, scientific, and deliberate.

🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/426
November 18, 2025 at 4:42 PM