EP 049 with David Reamer

Crude Conversations

In this episode, Cody has a conversation with Anchorage public historian David Reamer. A public historian is concerned with including a public audience, while an academic historian is generally concerned with including an audience of their peers. Academic historians, David says, have a tendency to create an echo chamber of ideas that perpetuates and builds off of old and often prejudiced narratives. Whereas the purpose of the public historian is to deliver information to the people if affects. David calls this, "the democratization of knowledge."

A lot of David's work is concerned with Anchorage's historical relationship with race. Generally, how Anchorage has never been as tolerant as it likes to believe. He points to Alaska's self-identification of exceptionalism, the idea that Alaska is better than other places because our morals and our values have always been ahead of their time. David says this has never been the case because, unless you're Alaska Native, you or your family moved here from somewhere else, bringing with you the beliefs and disposition of your original home. However, above all, he believes in change and the power of self-determination. That precedent matters because change begets change.