"Practical History" is a New Books Network special series about the many ways historical knowledge can be useful beyond academia, especially in business, technology, and public policy.  I talk to consultants, entrepreneurs, data scientists, academics, and other professionals about how they use history to solve problems, make decisions, and navigate challenges in their work.

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There's a practical mission behind the podcast: I want to help people discover what historical knowledge and skills can offer across different careers, including some where you might not expect to find historians.

 

There's also a more intellectual project that I'm pursuing here. Much of what professionals know comes from experience, and they don't always have an opportunity to explain how they actually do what they do.  Through these conversations, I try to bring some of that tacit knowledge to the surface and make it useful to others. I'm also interested in what happens when knowledge travels between disciplines—how historians can learn from people in business or technology, for example, and how historical ways of thinking might offer something valuable in return.