History-in-the-Now Conversations!
History-in-the-Now Conversations!
Podcast Description
In this podcast series, Paul Zanazanian, author and Associate Professor at McGill University, explores what history is, what it can do, and how people use it in their everyday lives. What is unique about this series is that Zanazanian engages in conversations with scholars and other professionals who do not work in any field directly related to history but — as shall be discovered — hold valuable insights about history’s worth and relevance. The podcast is inspired by Zanazanian’s book, Historical Consciousness and Practical Life: A Theory and Methodology, which examines history’s life uses.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast examines themes such as the application of historical knowledge in education, mental health, community engagement, and artistic expression. For instance, episodes might feature topics like the impact of parental mental health on child development or how arts education fosters social justice and learning transformations.
In this podcast series, Paul Zanazanian, author and Associate Professor at McGill University, explores what history is, what it can do, and how people use it in their everyday lives. What is unique about this series is that Zanazanian engages in conversations with scholars and other professionals who do not work in any field directly related to history but — as shall be discovered — hold valuable insights about history’s worth and relevance. The podcast is inspired by Zanazanian’s book, Historical Consciousness and Practical Life: A Theory and Methodology, which examines history’s life uses.
Joshua Dorsey is the founder and CEO of the Montreal-based tech startup Hivelighter — specialized in non-generic enterprise research, knowledge leadership, and client-intelligence. They work with some of the most demanding companies in the world, including Cossette, Scale AI, dBI. Their research team recently made a breakthrough in Agentic AI that has opened up new horizons for Hivelighter in the Agent-to-Agent (A2A) marketplace. Dorsey’s previous success was in the entertainment industry as a film & television director, showrunner and producer – creating hit shows for History Channel, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Showtime, and Discovery… and was the first ever creator to have a project successfully leap from web to network television. Dorsey also started an arts organization for disadvantaged teens. He studied moral philosophy at Harvard, got his MFA from Columbia University, and fought the World Tournament twice in Full-Contact Karate.REFERENCING FOR CITATION PURPOSES: Zanazanian, P. (Host) & Dorsey, J. (Guest). (2026, September) How history lives within us: Founder and CEO Joshua Dorsey of Hivelighter talks history. History in the Now Conversations https://historyinthenow.com/podcast/*This podcast, History in the Now Conversations, emerges from my research which can be found in my book: Zanazanian, P. (2025) Historical Consciousness and Practical Life: A Theory and Methodology. University of Toronto Press. For more information, visit: https://historyinthenow.com/book-historical-consciousness-practical-life/.
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