Love Unsung History? Leave a Review!
UNSUNG HISTORY
UNSUNG HISTORY
A podcast about people and events in American history you may not know much about. Yet.
Choose your favorite podcast player

UNSUNG HISTORY

A podcast about people and events in American history you may not know much about. Yet.

The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building
UNSUNG HISTORY
The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building
Amazon Music podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconiHeartRadio podcast player iconOvercast podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconTuneIn podcast player iconYouTube podcast player icon

Recent Episodes

View all
The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building
225
June 15, 2026

The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building

The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building loom large in the American imagination, symbolizing the conflicting ideas of liberty and empire; their meanings and characters have shifted over time as the American ethos has shifted. Joining me in this episode is writer, historian, and freelance editor, Dr. Vaneesa Cook , author of Empire and Liberty: The Tied Histories of Two American Landmarks . Our theme song is “ Frogs Legs Rag ,” composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, li
Listen to the Episode
An American History of Purses
224
June 1, 2026

An American History of Purses

Today the US handbag market is estimated to be nearly $12 billion, with most of the purchasing done by women, but into the early 20th Century purses hadn’t yet become the nearly-exclusive domain of women. The integration of pockets into men’s clothing, and the marketing push of toiletry items to women in the 1920s and 1930s drove this differentiated market development. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Kathleen B. Casey , Professor of History and Director of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality St
Listen to the Episode
The Lady Bird Special
223
May 18, 2026

The Lady Bird Special

On the morning of Tuesday, October 6, 1964, the Lady Bird Special , a 19-car train carrying First Lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson, her supporters, members of the press, and a security detail, departed Union Station in Washington, DC, for an ambitious 1,682-mile whistle-stop campaign tour of Southern States. In four days, Lady Bird gave 47 speeches to over 200,000 people, demonstrating that despite the growing resentment of white Southern Democrats to President Johnson’s signing of the Civil Rig
Listen to the Episode
Policing Slavery & Black Rebellion in the American South
222
May 4, 2026

Policing Slavery & Black Rebellion in the American South

Enslaved Africans were forcibly shipped to Virginia starting in 1619 in response to a severe labor shortage. From the beginning, enslaved laborers resisted by fleeing and through violence, and white enslavers reacted by creating a racialized system of brutal policing, granting themselves authority based on skin color and a sense of superiority. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Gautham Rao , Associate Professor of History at American University in Washington, D.C., and author of White Power: Pol
Listen to the Episode
The Frontier Myth and the People of the Western United States
221
April 20, 2026

The Frontier Myth and the People of the Western United States

In 1893, historian Frederick Jackson Turner advanced his now-famous Frontier Theory, arguing that the American identity was forged through the process of exploring and adapting to new environments in the frontier west. Key to both Turner’s theory and the myth of the frontier that pre-dated it was the idea that brave white American men conquered a previously empty land through their grit in a relentless march west, but the land was populated long before white Americans arrived, and the people who
Listen to the Episode
Magnus Hirschfeld, Dora Richter, and the Institute for Sexual Science in Weimar Germany
220
April 6, 2026

Magnus Hirschfeld, Dora Richter, and the Institute for Sexual Science in Weimar Germany

In the Weimar Republic, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld opened the Institute for Sexual Science and advocated for the repeal of legislation that criminalized sexual relations between men. At the Institute, pioneering gender-affirming surgeries were performed, and it was there that Dora Richter became the first known trans woman to undergo comprehensive male-to-female gender-affirming surgeries. But when the Nazis came to power, they labeled Hirschfeld an enemy of the state and destroyed the Institute’s im
Listen to the Episode
The Feliciana Parishes of Louisiana
219
March 23, 2026

The Feliciana Parishes of Louisiana

For 74 days in 1810 the current-day parishes of East and West Feliciana in New Orleans were part of the independent Republic of West Florida, which flew a lone star flag. By that point the residents of the Felicianas, including a large enslaved population, living on land that had been stolen from indigenous people, had been part of three different empires. The republic ended with the parishes annexed into yet another country, the United States, though fifty years later they would be part of stil
Listen to the Episode
The Academy Awards
218
March 9, 2026

The Academy Awards

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was formed in 1927 one of the goals of the founders was to recognize achievements in the industry. That recognition quickly took the form of annual awards banquets, with the first one hosted in 1929. Over time the format shifted from banquet to the Oscars telecast we all know today, as the categories and even membership of the Academy adapted to the shifts in filmmaking. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Monica Sandler , a film and media histo
Listen to the Episode
Slavery and the Complicated Legacy of George Washington
217
Feb. 22, 2026

Slavery and the Complicated Legacy of George Washington

George Washington privately condemned slavery while actively holding hundreds of people in enslavement. He championed gradual emancipation plans while scheming to keep the people he enslaved from accessing them. He ruthlessly pursued a woman who escaped his enslavement and then emancipated the slaves he owned outright in his will. Washington’s complicated and contradictory legacy around slavery has been debated by Americans since his death. Joining us to discuss is Dr. John Garrison Marks , the
Listen to the Episode
Black History Month
216
Feb. 9, 2026

Black History Month

One hundred years ago, Dr. Carter G. Woodson created and launched the inaugural Negro History Week after his professors told him that Black people didn’t have a history worth studying. Negro History Week built on the success of Douglass Day and quickly spread through Black communities in the United States. Fifty years later, at the urging of the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, President Gerald Ford called for Americans to celebrate Black History Month, which was fina
Listen to the Episode
View all Episodes

 

Powered by RedCircle

About the Host

Kelly Therese Pollock Profile Photo
Kelly Therese Pollock

Producer & Host

Kelly has always been the kind of person who asks questions — lots of questions — to anyone who will listen and answer. With a BA in Religious Studies from Northwestern University and an MA in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara (where she wrote a thesis on feminist witches), Kelly has turned her questioning to politics and history where she digs deep into stories that aren’t getting enough attention.

By day Kelly is an administrator at the University of Chicago, where she has worked since 2004.

Kelly lives on the southside of Chicago with her husband, two kids, and two cats. When she’s not podcasting or working you can find Kelly with knitting needles in her hands. If she could knit and podcast at the same time she would.

Reviews

"Every episode is a fascinating deep dive. Some heartbreaking, some funny, always informative."

khoops | Sept. 30, 2021

"Love this podcast! I have to save them up to binge listen because one episode is never enough. I’ve already bought a few of the audiobooks used in the podcasts because the authors and events were so …"

Meaghan G | Oct. 27, 2021

the ONLY pod I listen to

"I adore this podcast, because I adore history, and I adore (& admire) Kelly's thoughtful and gentle (while thorough and inquisitive) interviewing methods. I was a huge fan of her previous pod, "Two B…"

Lauren Friedman | Dec. 10, 2021

Terrific history podcast!

"I just listened to "Women-Led Slave Revolts" which has to be one of my favorite interviews so far. Kelly finds great topics/authors, and knows how to draw them out with thoughtful, to the point quest…"

Anne B. Gass | Jan. 5, 2022

You should listen!

"Kelly does an excellent job of not only finding great guests with interesting topics she asks great questions and does a great job of introducing the topics. More people should listen to Unsung Histo…"

Lorraine | Jan. 13, 2022

An absolute must-listen

"This podcast is a fascinating and satisfying deep dive into the parts of history that aren’t covered in the classroom. Each episode is comprehensive yet easy to follow, and the host’s and guests’ ent…"

KateOhKatie | March 9, 2022

An absolute delight

"Makes my little nerd heart happy."

NonVirginMarie | March 9, 2022

Clever and well-researched

"Love the subjects and how the host hones in on the most salient points about each "unsung history." I also appreciate the thorough, well-paced introductions to each episode."

Dressing Up book | July 4, 2022

An absolute gem!

"I absolutely love this podcast. Always astounding, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspiring. Each episode turns your understanding of the past and present on its head to some degree. The scholarl…"

Megan Linger | Sept. 20, 2022

Thoughtful and Thought-Provoking

"Where to even begin? I listen to a LOT of history podcasts and Unsung History is my absolute favorite. Not only do I learn new things (as a former history major who continues to consume a lot of hi…"

Mira | Sept. 30, 2022

Excellent and informative

"Unsung History is such a great podcast!! It covers a diverse range of historical topics (labor, gender, pirates, history of the oppressed, just to name a few) in a nice, concise format. I’m a history…"

C_Ray1 | Jan. 23, 2023

Great Topics

"I loved learning about women and events that were completely left out of my education like Patsy Mink and the National Women's Conference."

her half of history | March 31, 2023
See all reviews