When you think of today’s most popular influencers and public figures, your mind might not immediately go to historians — but it should.
History is having its moment in the limelight, per Bloomberg:
Plus, history is popping up in successful Substack newsletters and on TikTok — let’s not forget the Roman Empire trend.
Podcasts: Nearly 70m people listened to podcasts in 2023, a number estimated to reach 110m by 2029.
And history pods are keeping up with the best of them — shows like Hardcore History and The Rest is History, which sees 12.5m downloads per month, frequently top the charts, beating out longtime favorites like This American Life.
Goalhanger, which produces The Rest is History, signed a deal with a Hollywood production company to develop TV shows and films based on the podcast.
And the podcast’s hosts have performed for live audiences at sold-out shows across the world.
It could be that the greying world population is more interested in stories of the past, or that society’s AI tipping point has pushed some away from tech and toward the humanities.
Plus, fewer higher-ed students are studying history, per Bloomberg. While student enrollment in the UK has increased by ~20% in the last five years, the number of students studying history has fallen 10%. In the US, spring enrollment in undergraduate history classes has fallen 15%+ since 2019.
With the rising costs of tuition, it’s no wonder that students might be tuning in to a history podcast on their way to corporate finance class.