3-year-old “Chimney Sweep” Video
Jason Steinhauer of the History Communications Institute joins us to explain the veracity of the film clip of a “3-year-old chimney sweep” from the 1930s that’s gone viral on social media. Is it heart-breaking evidence of child labor, or is it something else? He also explains how it went viral and what that means for issues of history presented on social media. Episode 467.
Click here for the chimney sweep video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlPUzXb0_4U
Here is the link for Jason Steinhauer’s History Communication Institute: https://historycommunication.com/
Jason Steinhauer’s website: https://www.jasonsteinhauer.com/history-communicators
Buzzkill Bookshelf
Jason Steinhauer, History, Disrupted: How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past
The Internet has changed the past. Social media, Wikipedia, mobile networks, and the viral and visual nature of the Web have inundated the public sphere with historical information and misinformation, changing what we know about our history and History as a discipline. This is the first book to chronicle how and why it matters. Why does History matter at all? What role do history and the past play in our democracy? Our economy? Our understanding of ourselves? How do questions of history intersect with today’s most pressing debates about technology; the role of the media; journalism; tribalism; education; identity politics; the future of government, civilization, and the planet? At the start of a new decade, in the midst of growing political division around the world, this information is critical to an engaged citizenry. As we collectively grapple with the effects of technology and its capacity to destabilize our societies, scholars, educators and the general public should be aware of how the Web and social media shape what we know about ourselves – and crucially, about our past.
