Teaching Hard History

About Teaching Hard History

From Learning for Justice and host Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Ph.D., Teaching Hard History brings us the crucial history we should have learned through the voices of leading scholars and educators. The series, which includes four seasons that originally aired from 2018 to 2022, begins with the long and brutal legacy of slavery and reaches through the victories of and violent responses to the Civil Rights Movement and Black Americans' experiences during the Jim Crow era to the issues we face today. Join us as we relaunch this podcast series, highlighting an episode each week and including a new resource page with key points from the conversation, resources and connections for building learning experiences.

Publisher

Learning for Justice

Category

education · history

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

31 Jan 2018

Latest episode

10 Jul 2025

Latest episodes

1 of 76 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   10 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT

   Slavery and the Northern Economy

   When we think of slavery as a strictly Southern institution, we perpetuate a “dangerous fiction,” according to historian Christy Clark-Pujara. Avoid the trap with this episode about the role the North played in perpetuating slavery and the truth behind the phrase “slavery built the United States.” Join host Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Ph.D., and Learning for Justice, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). (This episode originally aired in Jan. 2018.) Visit the new resource page for this episode (2025), which includes essential ideas from the conversation, teaching recommendations and updated resources. A complete transcript is also included.

2. 

   26 Jun 2025

   Slavery and the Civil War, Part 2

   Professor Bethany Jay discusses the actions of free and enslaved African Americans during the Civil War with host Hasan Kwame Jeffries, highlighting their contributions to emancipation in this interview.

3. 

   19 Jun 2025

   Slavery and the Civil War, Part 1

   Professor Bethany Jay examines slavery's complex role in causing the Civil War and suggests methods to clarify our understanding of the Confederacy in this interview with Hasan Kwame Jeffries.

Inside a recent episode

Slavery and the Northern Economy

Published 10 Jul 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] New York was also home to the water and rail transportation companies that shipped cotton from the South to the North. When we think about the industrial revolution, when we think about public investment in rail lines and shipping industry, we often don't think about it in conjunction with the institution of slavery, but it was the institution of slavery and cotton that was the impetus for it all. Over the 19th century, the textile industry transformed northern towns. By 1852, the industry employed 14 % of the labor force, and by 1860, New England was home to 472 cotton mills. These textile factories were often the sole employers in towns throughout the region, and they were a direct link between northern advancement and wealth and southern slavery. […]

Who has been a guest on Teaching Hard History

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Bethany Jay
• Hakeem Jeffries
• Robert T Chase
• Brandon T Jett
• Charles L Hughes

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

3,551,528

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

633 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 75 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

77

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

91

Contact Teaching Hard History

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about Teaching Hard History