On 21 June 2023, a scholarly journal paper challenged the long-held view that nineteenth century British ironmaster Henry Cort had invented a method for recycling low quality scrap iron into more valuable wrought iron. Instead, the author asserted, Cort had stolen this idea from “Black metallurgists in Jamaica who developed it”, crediting them as the …
Dan Richards of the YouTube channel DeDunking is a self-described alternate historian, and is particularly unhappy with the Society for American Archaeology. In an open letter to president-elect Donald Trump, Dan asked for the SAA’s federal funding to be removed. Unfortunately Dan’s error-filled letter is based on a complete misunderstanding of the SAA. This video …
Bulgarian art director Viktor Antonov is arguably one of the most well known designers in the modern video game industry. From Half-Life 2 to Dishonored 1, his distinctive and arresting style has left a unique mark on every game he has touched. This video describes Antonov’s secret inspiration, focusing in particular on the most influential …
Historia Civilis is a history Youtuber with over one million subscribers. He not only uses historical sources, but lists in them in the video description, and sometimes cites them in his video. But I was disapponted in his video on the history of work and time management, published on 30 September 2023. This video of …
Why would you ever distrust a peer-reviewed journal? Isn’t peer review the gold standard for quality in academia? Aren’t we always being told to rely on peer reviewed scholarly literature instead of personal opinions and non-scholarly sources. This video shows you there can be good reasons to distrust peer-reviewed journals, and explains that peer-review doesn’t …
TIK History is a military history Youtuber. His videos extensive use of sources, cited even down to the page number, has gained him a reputation for reliability, accuracy, and good research practices. But TIK’s videos on a number of topics repeatedly suffer from biased sources, incorrect sources, and misrepresented sources. This video shows you how …
The Miniminuteman channel is a great resource for learning about history and archaeology. However, I think Miniminuteman is wrong about pyramids and slavery. Specifcally, I think he’s wrong to say “The Great Pyramid was built by like craftsmen and laborers. It was not an enslaved force”, and this video explains why. Media credits Primary source …
In 1945 a remarkable film was produced, the result of an unusual combination of interests. The United States Navy, black rights advocates, social scientists, and the Hollywood movie community, all contributed to a curious work of propaganda entitled “The Negro Sailor”. This video describes the film and its purpose. Administration, United States National Archives and …
NewScientist is a popular science magazine which indulges in some very bad journalism. This may be due to the fact that the company often hires freelance writers who are encouraged to narrativize their articles and use an eye-catching title. They do not require freelancers to have any particular qualifications in the subjects on which they …
It is commonly believed that Early Modern women accused of being witches, made ointments from local plants containing powerful psychoactive agents, which caused hallucinations of flight and other supernatural events. These videos examine the history of the hallucinogenic flying ointment narrative, and present evidence discrediting the myth of witches’ hallucinogens. Ahmed, Shokhan Rasool. “Witches Which …
