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I don’t usually sit down with history professors, but after this conversation, I might need to start.

In this episode, I’m joined by Hasan Kwame Jeffries, College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University, and I’ll be honest, I was little intimidated.

What followed was one of those conversations that stretches you. Not because it’s heavy, but because it’s honest.

We talk about history as story, not nostalgia. About why banning books is a hard no. About capitalism, debt, incarceration, and the long shadow of slavery and how those systems didn’t disappear, they just changed shape. Professor Jeffries breaks down complex ideas in a way that’s accessible, grounded, and deeply human.

He also shares a story about his dad, a baseball call that “was too close to take,” and how that lesson shaped his discipline, his truth-telling, and the way he shows up in the world.

We get into what today’s college students are really like post-COVID and what it means to live through this moment in America without fear-mongering or performance.

This isn’t a lecture. It’s me asking real questions, sometimes for dummies (my words, not his), and having a conversation that left me thinking long after the cameras stopped rolling.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, confused, or just hungry for context about how we got here this episode is for you.