History Reporters and Journalists - 2025 Contact List

Anna Eavis bridges heritage preservation and contemporary urban challenges through her roles at English Heritage and Oxford Preservation Trust. With dual expertise in medieval architecture and modern policy, she advocates for adaptive reuse of historic assets as climate-resilient community infrastructure.

Key Coverage Areas

• Material Conservation: Advanced techniques in stained glass preservation and stonework restoration
• Heritage Economics: Metrics for quantifying cultural value in urban regeneration projects
• Cathedral Architecture: Comparative analysis of European ecclesiastical structures

Avoid Pitches On

• Digital reconstruction projects lacking physical preservation components
• Pre-14th century archaeological discoveries without contemporary relevance

"True preservation requires equal parts reverence for the past and imagination for the future."

For over 15 years, Bryan Marquard has served as The Boston Globe’s obituary editor, transforming the genre into a mirror reflecting New England’s social conscience. His profiles prioritize unsung individuals whose lives shaped the region’s civil rights, media, and academic landscapes.

Pitching Insights

• Focus Areas:
  • Civil Rights History: Seeks stories connecting personal activism to institutional change
  • Journalism Legacy: Profiles of reporters who redefined local accountability
  • Academic Leadership: Educators whose reforms impacted community access
• Avoid: Celebrity tributes, corporate executives without community ties, partisan political figures

Career Highlights

• Authored 2,000+ obituaries since 2008
• Key contributor to The Boston Globe’s 2014 Pulitzer-winning team
• Recipient of the 2022 Narrative Journalism Innovator Award

As podcast editor and lead multimedia historian at BBC History Magazine’s HistoryExtra, Ellie Cawthorne specializes in bringing forgotten narratives to life through innovative storytelling formats. Her work spans:

• Primary Focus: Victorian-era social history, particularly gender dynamics and subcultural movements
• Secondary Interests: Historical mystery resolution using modern forensic techniques, material culture studies
• Emerging Themes: Climate history, pre-20th century LGBTQ+ experiences, industrial revolution impacts

Pitching Priorities

Successful outreach should emphasize:

• Untold Stories: 68% of her published work focuses on previously overlooked historical figures
• Multi-Disciplinary Approaches: Recent projects combine archaeology, literature analysis, and digital modeling
• Audio-Visual Potential: 82% of pitches accepted include proposals for companion podcast episodes

“The best history stories make us reevaluate not just the past, but our present moment.”

Achievement Highlights

• Led HistoryExtra podcast to 4M+ monthly downloads (2023)
• Developed BBC’s first hybrid live/virtual history festival (2021)
• Regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s historical programming

With dual expertise in modern history and scientific journalism, Emma Mason crafts narratives that reveal how past innovations shape present realities. Her work for BBC History Magazine and Biocompare demonstrates unique ability to make technical subjects accessible without sacrificing depth.

Key Coverage Areas

• 20th-Century Social History: Specializes in Prohibition-era systems analysis rather than biographical profiles
• Scientific Innovation: Focuses on historical contexts of medical breakthroughs
• Royal Institution Studies: Examines psychological dimensions of tradition maintenance

Pitching Preferences

• Prefers data-rich submissions with archival documentation
• Seeks stories highlighting underrecognized historical contributors
• Avoid military tactic analyses or economic policy deep dives

Feliks Banel is KIRO Newsradio’s resident historian and a leading voice in Pacific Northwest cultural preservation. With three decades of experience across museums, radio, and digital media, he specializes in:

Core Coverage Areas

• Regional History: Deep dives into Washington’s social, industrial, and environmental past
• Media Innovation: Preservation and evolution of radio as a storytelling medium
• Cultural Preservation: Documenting endangered traditions and landmarks

Pitching Preferences

Banel prioritizes stories that:

• Connect current events to historical patterns (e.g., tech boom comparisons to 1890s gold rushes)
• Incorporate multimedia elements like archival audio/visual materials
• Highlight underrepresented communities’ historical contributions

“History isn’t just about dates - it’s the breathing connection between who we were and who we’re becoming.”

Recent recognitions include a 2016 Northwest Regional Emmy and the 2019 Charles Payton Award for historical communication. His work continues to shape how Northwesterners understand their shared heritage.

As Professor of History at Griffith University, Fiona Paisley specializes in transnational approaches to settler colonial histories. Her work consistently examines:

• Indigenous Rights Activism: Tracing global networks of Aboriginal protest from 1920s-1950s
• Feminist Internationalism: Analyzing women's organizations as sites of cultural exchange and power negotiation
• Humanitarian Governance: Critiquing education/reform projects in colonial contexts

Pitching Priorities

Successful pitches should:

• Leverage underutilized archives (personal correspondence, organizational ephemera)
• Demonstrate awareness of Pacific regional dynamics
• Engage critically with progressive movement histories

"Historical analysis must account for both the radical possibilities and constrained realities of cross-cultural collaboration." - From Glamour in the Pacific

Achievements Snapshot

• Recipient of 3 ARC Discovery Grants (2013-2025)
• Author of 8 monographs translated into 5 languages
• Advisory roles with UNESCO Memory of the World Programme

Frances Rooney specializes in uncovering hidden cultural histories through archival research and community narratives. Based in Toronto, she writes primarily for Second Story Press while maintaining an active freelance career preserving regional histories.

Key Coverage Areas

• Cultural Preservation: Documents disappearing traditions through oral histories and material culture analysis
• Biographical Works: Focuses on overlooked female creatives and tradespeople
• Regional Histories: Examines how geography shapes community identity

Pitching Recommendations

• Lead with primary sources: She prioritizes stories with access to unpublished archives or physical artifacts
• Highlight multigenerational impact: Looks for narratives showing tradition evolution across age groups
• Avoid celebrity angles: Focuses on everyday cultural contributors rather than famous figures

Career Highlights

• Authored 6 books blending historical research with narrative storytelling
• Recipient of Canadian Historical Association's Public History Prize
• 20+ years preserving community histories through editorial projects

Frank Giles (1919–2019) was a cornerstone of British journalism, known for his editorial leadership at The Sunday Times and authoritative historical works. His career offers critical lessons for those seeking to engage with legacy media institutions.

Core Coverage Areas

• Post-war European History: Specialized in Franco-British relations and decolonization.
• Media Ethics: Advocated for editorial independence amid corporate acquisitions.
• Biographical Journalism: Authored detailed studies of Napoleon and media pioneers.

Pitching Considerations

While Giles is no longer active, his body of work suggests these approaches for related projects:

• Leverage Archival Materials: His books frequently used unpublished letters and government documents.
• Contextualize Modern Issues Historically: Draw explicit parallels between current events and 20th-century precedents.

“The responsible course would be to halt publication—but the pressures were considerable.”

This quote from Giles’ reflection on the Hitler Diaries scandal encapsulates his balanced approach to journalism’s ethical challenges—a perspective that remains relevant for modern media professionals.

John J. Geoghegan is a journalist and author renowned for chronicling "White Elephant Technology"—ambitious inventions that falter commercially. His work in Smithsonian Magazine and books like White Elephant Technology (2024) blends historical analysis with narratives of human ambition. Geoghegan’s expertise spans military history, obsolete innovations, and the cultural drivers of failure.

Pitching Guidance

• Seek: Pre-1980s prototypes, patent archives, inventor memoirs.
• Avoid: Silicon Valley success stories or incremental tech updates.

Achievements

• Featured in PBS/Smithsonian documentaries for his work on WWII-era technology.
• Recurring commentator on innovation ethics in academic circles.

Jon Wells is a veteran journalist at The Hamilton Spectator and author of six nonfiction books. His work spans:

• Historical Investigations: Reconstructing overlooked narratives, particularly wartime experiences and Indigenous history.
• Criminal Justice Reform: Analyzing systemic inequities, police accountability, and community-led solutions.
• Economic Policy Impacts: Humanizing trade, labor, and industrial policies through local stories.

Pitching Tips

• Avoid Celebrity-Driven Angles: Wells prioritizes grassroots voices over sensationalism.
• Emphasize Primary Sources: Proposals should include access to archives, interviewees, or underrepresented communities.

Awards: Spruill Prize Honorable Mention, Residential College Directorship at University of Michigan.

Specializing in 20th-century British life, Gardiner brings academic depth to public history through books, documentaries, and museum collaborations. Her work for institutions like the Imperial War Museum and BBC has redefined how audiences engage with the past.

Key Coverage Areas

• Home Front Dynamics: From rationing systems to civilian morale strategies
• Cultural Shifts: Analysis of fashion, literature, and domestic life during upheaval
• Historical Methodology: Innovative use of oral histories and material culture

Pitching Priorities

“The best stories live in the gaps between official records” – Gardiner, 2022

• Seek: Untapped archival materials, cross-generational oral histories
• Avoid: Great Man theory narratives, uncritical nostalgia

Recent recognitions include the 2023 Public History Prize for her work making wartime diaries accessible through augmented reality projects.

Sir Keith Thomas (b. 1933) is a preeminent British historian focusing on early modern social and cultural transformations. Currently contributing to the London Review of Books, his work bridges academic research and public discourse through essays analyzing historical belief systems and their modern legacies.

Key Focus Areas

• Historical Anthropology: Examines how pre-industrial communities understood magic, religion, and nature
• Cultural Evolution: Traces changing attitudes toward work, civility, and human-animal relationships from 1500-1800

Pitching Recommendations

Avoid Modern Analogies

While Thomas occasionally connects historical patterns to contemporary issues, he prefers letting historical evidence speak for itself rather than forced comparisons to modern politics.

Magda Fahrni is a Canadian historian and journalist specializing in social history, health narratives, and cultural evolution. Her work appears in academic journals and public-facing platforms, particularly through Histoire sociale/Social History and Oxford University Press publications.

Key Focus Areas

• Family Dynamics: Examines kinship structures across 500 years of Canadian history
• Health Crises: Analyzes pandemic responses through historical lenses
• Gender Politics: Traces evolution of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy

Pitching Recommendations

• Historical Parallels: Connect current events to archival precedents
• Intersectional Analysis: Highlight overlapping class/gender/ethnic narratives
• Primary Sources: Emphasize unpublished diaries, letters, or institutional records

Fahrni’s award-winning research continues to shape understandings of Canadian identity, particularly through her innovative blending of academic scholarship and public engagement.

Based at the Australian National University’s prestigious Indigenous History Centre, Maria Nugent has shaped global conversations about colonial legacies through her innovative blend of archival scholarship and community collaboration. Her current focus areas include:

• Museum Provenance Studies: Developing new protocols for Indigenous artifact repatriation through technical analysis and oral history integration
• Royal Symbolism: Examining how monarchical iconography was adopted/adapted by First Nations communities
• Commemorative Practices: Advising governments on historical marker installations at culturally significant sites

Pitching Priorities

• Seek: Multi-year research partnerships with clear Indigenous governance structures
• Avoid: Surface-level analyses of colonial archives without community engagement components

“The most impactful histories emerge from sustained dialogue between keepers of knowledge and interpreters of records.” — Nugent, 2023 ANU Lecture Series

As Canada’s preeminent public history journalist, Reid specializes in:

• Institutional Evolution: Tracing how organizations adapt to cultural shifts (e.g., his 10-year study of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s editorial influence)
• Visual Historiography: Analyzing photographs, maps, and artwork as historical documents
• Commemorative Practices: Examining how societies memorialize contested pasts

Pitching Priorities

• Seek: Projects bridging academic research and public engagement
• Avoid: Military history or biographical profiles without archival innovation

Career Highlights

• Edited 200+ issues of Canada’s second-oldest continuously published magazine
• Authored three national bestsellers combining photographic archives with narrative history
• Advised Library and Archives Canada on digital accessibility initiatives

Mark McNeil is a Canada-based journalist for The Hamilton Spectator, specializing in historical preservation and retail economics. With two decades of experience, his work illuminates how local artifacts and businesses shape community identity.

Pitching Guide

• Do Pitch:
  • Untold archival discoveries: He prioritizes primary sources like diaries, ledgers, or photographs with clear provenance.
  • Retail comebacks: Focus on businesses reviving historic practices (e.g., a department store reintroducing 1950s window displays).
• Avoid:
  • National policy debates: His work centers on hyper-local impacts rather than federal initiatives.

Achievements: Recipient of the 2023 Ontario Heritage Trust Media Award for advancing public understanding of archival collections.

Mary Baxter is a Canadian journalist and historian specializing in justice, history, and human rights. As TVO Today’s southwestern Ontario reporter and a contributor to Broadview Magazine, she amplifies marginalized voices through rigorous investigative work.

Pitching Insights

• Focus Areas: Rural healthcare access, historical memory, community-led advocacy
• Geographic Scope: Primarily Ontario, especially non-urban regions
• Avoid: Celebrity profiles, international politics without local ties

Notable Achievements

• 2024 CAJ Award finalist for exposing reproductive care barriers
• PhD research on environmental history funded by SSHRC

Nigel Jones is a historian-journalist for The Spectator specializing in the intersection of European history and contemporary politics. With bylines in The Guardian, BBC History, and The Telegraph, his work decodes modern populism through archival rigor and literary analysis.

Coverage Focus

• Far-right movements: Tracks groups like Germany’s AfD and Austria’s Freedom Party, emphasizing historical roots in interwar fascism.
• Author-politicians: Profiles writers like Mario Vargas Llosa whose fiction informs real-world governance.
• Conflict zone governance: Analyzes post-war transitions in Syria, Ukraine, and the Balkans with a historian’s long lens.

Achievements

• Founded Historical Trips, a battlefield tour company acquired by Specialist Journeys in 2018.
• BBC documentaries on Wilfred Owen and Nazi Lebensborn programs, reaching 2M+ viewers.

Pitching Notes

• Do: Reference obscure diaries, declassified intelligence, or literary archives.
• Don’t: Pitch US electoral politics or climate science angles.

Patricia Treble brings three decades of historical expertise to her role as Maclean’s foremost analyst of Canadian royalty coverage and public policy. Her work straddles archival research and breaking news, with a signature focus on how institutions evolve under modern pressures.

Current Focus Areas

• Royal Diplomacy: Tracking the British monarchy’s changing role in Canadian identity, particularly through Indigenous reconciliation efforts
• Historical Reckoning: Examining how media retellings shape public understanding of figures like Queen Victoria
• Accountability Journalism: Investigating public-private partnerships in infrastructure and education

Pitching Insights

• Do: Lead with primary documents—Treble’s Therme piece used 300+ pages of procurement emails
• Avoid: Celebrity-driven royal gossip; she prioritizes systemic analysis over personality stories

Currently writing for WMMR and culinary publications, Kahan specializes in:

• Historical Food Systems: Traces ingredient journeys from farm to table across centuries
• Urban Development Through Cuisine: Analyzes how restaurants shape neighborhood identities
• Agricultural Preservation: Documents efforts to revive heirloom crops and techniques

Pitching Insights

Successful pitches combine archival research with contemporary relevance. Recent award-winning work includes:

• Multispectral analysis of 19th-century menus
• Oral history project with Philadelphia street food vendors
• Impact study of COVID-19 on regional supply chains

Avoid pitches focused on celebrity chefs or viral food trends. Kahan prioritizes stories demonstrating historical continuity in food practices.

Sir Peter Stothard bridges ancient history and modern politics through a unique journalistic lens honed over 50 years at The Times, TLS, and The Spectator. His work dissects power dynamics from Caesar’s Rome to contemporary Westminster, favoring primary source analysis and interdisciplinary research methods.

Key Coverage Areas

• Ancient Political Systems: Comparative studies of governance from Augustan Rome to modern coalitions
• Literary Biography: Re-examining classical figures through unpublished manuscripts and material culture
• Historical Methodology: Innovating research techniques blending archaeology, economics, and textual analysis

Pitching Insights

Successful Angles

• Newly discovered primary sources reframing historical narratives
• STEM research applications in classical studies (e.g., lead isotope analysis)
• Understudied philosophical influences on modern jurisprudence

Areas to Avoid

• Superficial ancient/modern comparisons lacking academic rigor
• Pop culture analyses without substantive historical grounding
• Military history focused solely on tactics without cultural context

Career Highlights

• Edited The Times during its 1990s circulation peak (900,000+ daily)
• Authored 8 books synthesizing memoir with classical scholarship
• Chaired 2012 Man Booker Prize jury, selecting Hilary Mantel’s Tudor saga

Currently writing for New Statesman, Radford specializes in making historical analysis resonate with contemporary audiences. Her work sits at the crossroads of:

• Cultural Heritage: Examines how societies preserve and misinterpret their pasts
• Narrative Medicine: Explores historical public health strategies’ modern applications
• Millennial Experiences: Analyzes generational shifts through longitudinal cultural studies

Pitching Priorities

• Seek: Untold stories from archive specialists, interdisciplinary researchers, and cultural practitioners reviving ancient techniques
• Avoid: Breaking political news, celebrity profiles without historical context, or purely academic debates

“The best stories aren’t found – they’re excavated through patience and perspective”

With over 150 published works and 500,000 podcast downloads, Radford’s influence extends beyond journalism into academic curricula and museum exhibition design. Her upcoming book Palimpsest Politics (2026) promises to redefine how we engage with cultural memory.

For 30 years, Richard Ruelas has shaped The Arizona Republic’s coverage of cultural evolution and civic accountability. His reporting blends investigative rigor with narrative flair, particularly when examining:

• Historical Continuity: Tracing modern policy decisions to their roots in Arizona’s territorial days
• Immigration Realities: Documenting both enforcement strategies and human impacts
• Agricultural Innovation: Profiling industries adapting to climate challenges

Pitching Priorities

• Provide access to primary sources (court documents, historical records)
• Suggest local angles to national trends with verifiable data
• Highlight multimedia components for cross-platform storytelling

Recent Impact: His 2025 investigation into immigration enforcement practices prompted legislative reviews of ICE tip-line protocols, demonstrating how local journalism drives systemic accountability.

Sally Alexander (b. 1943) is a pioneering British historian and feminist activist whose work redefined modern historical methodology. Currently contributing to the History Workshop Journal, she specializes in:

• Feminist historiography: Examining how gender shapes historical narratives
• Social movement analysis: Studying activism's psychological and cultural impacts
• Interdisciplinary research: Combining psychoanalytic theory with archival study

Pitching Priorities

• Seek intersectional analyses of historical movements
• Develop psychoanalytic frameworks for cultural studies
• Highlight marginalized voices in archival research

"History lives in the spaces between personal memory and collective action - our task is to listen carefully to both."

With over 50 years' experience bridging activism and academia, Alexander remains a vital voice for understanding how past struggles inform present-day social justice movements. Her work continues to inspire new approaches to feminist historical research.

As Australia's foremost historian of Indigenous-colonial encounters, Dr. Konishi brings rigorous scholarship and community-centered approaches to historical truth-telling. Her work at the University of Western Australia and Australian Journal of Biography and History focuses on three core areas:

• Indigenous Agency: Documenting Aboriginal negotiation strategies in early colonial contexts
• Biographical Methods: Developing ethical frameworks for Indigenous life histories
• Emotional Historiography: Analyzing affective dimensions of archival records

Pitching Priorities

Successful outreach aligns with her 2025-2028 ARC Future Fellowship on Western Australian history. Prioritize:

• Pre-1829 Noongar social systems
• Comparative studies of Indigenous diplomacy
• Decolonial archival methodologies

"History isn't just about the past - it's the foundation for how we imagine our future." - Konishi in 2023 Academy Fellowship address

Achievements Snapshot

• Edited 8 volumes of Aboriginal History journal since 2010
• Lead CI on A$2.3+ million in research grants
• 2023 inductee into Australian Academy of Humanities

With four decades at Express & Star and 25+ novels, Toby Neal masterfully bridges journalism and fiction. Her work illuminates how place shapes identity, whether profiling Shropshire's aerospace history or documenting American wilderness trails.

Core Coverage Areas

• Regional History: Specializes in West Midlands' industrial heritage with modern policy implications
• Adventure Memoir: Chronicles North American expeditions blending ecological data with personal narrative
• Creative Process: Explores intersections of journalism, fiction, and digital content creation

Pitching Preferences

• Seeking: Local history angles with contemporary parallels, author-led travel initiatives, outdoor safety innovations
• Avoid: Celebrity profiles, political commentary, luxury tourism trends

"Neal's work reminds us that every landscape holds layered stories - we need only listen." - BBC Countryfile Magazine

Tom Holland stands as one of Britain’s most influential public intellectuals, blending academic rigor with mass-market appeal. Currently a columnist for The Spectator and co-host of the chart-topping podcast The Rest Is History, his work spans:

• Core Beats:
  • Ancient Mediterranean civilizations
  • Religious evolution and secular ethics
  • Cultural transmission across empires
• Pitching Opportunities:
  • Historical analysis of modern social movements
  • Re-examinations of marginalized historical figures
  • Interdisciplinary studies bridging archaeology and digital humanities

"To live in a western country is to live in a society still utterly saturated by Christian concepts and assumptions."

Achievements Highlight

• Translated Herodotus for Penguin Classics (2013)
• Chair of Society of Authors (2018-2020)
• Regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Making History

When approaching Holland, emphasize understudied historical connections and avoid presentist analyses lacking deep temporal context. His career demonstrates that the most urgent stories are often those we’ve forgotten to remember.

As Principal Diverse Histories Records Specialist at The National Archives (UK), Iglikowski-Broad brings marginalized histories to mainstream audiences through archival research and public engagement. Her work spans:

• Core Beats:
  • LGBTQ+ legal and social history
  • Intersectional feminist narratives
  • Police surveillance methodologies
• Pitching Preferences:
  • Proposals grounded in primary source analysis
  • Stories recovering everyday experiences of marginalized groups
  • Historical patterns influencing modern policy debates

Career Highlights

• Curated 10+ exhibitions reaching 250,000+ visitors
• Regular commentator for BBC Radio 3 and Women’s Hour
• Pioneered ethical guidelines for documenting sex work history

Avoid When Pitching

• Biographies of individual historical figures without structural analysis
• Military or economic history without social dimensions
• Speculative historical fiction angles

Based in Adelaide and recently appointed editor of InReview, Walter Marsh specializes in stories where history, culture, and media power collide. His work for The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, and Scribe Publications reveals how institutions shape national identity—and who gets excluded from the narrative.

Pitching Priorities

• Indigenous Resurgence: Seeks stories of First Nations knowledge informing contemporary design, policy, or art.
• Cultural Economics: How nostalgia industries (theme parks, heritage brands) navigate modern markets.
• Media Accountability: Investigative angles on historical revisionism in corporate or government messaging.

Achievements

“Marsh doesn’t just report history—he shapes how future generations will record it.” — The Monthly on Young Rupert

This veteran journalist bridges historical scholarship and geopolitical analysis through The Times of Israel, where he examines how collective memory shapes international relations. With quarter-century experience spanning Bosnia to Australia, Miletic’s work reveals the ethical fault lines in post-conflict societies.

Core Coverage Areas

• Geopolitical Ethics: Examines how nations reconcile historical atrocities with contemporary diplomacy
• Transatlantic Relations: Tracks ideological shifts impacting NATO and EU cohesion
• Cultural Memory: Documents preservation efforts for marginalized historical narratives

Achievements

"Few journalists so deftly expose the machinery of historical distortion while honoring its human consequences." - Drummond Medal Committee

Pitching Preferences

• Seek: Underreported genocide studies, multilateral policy analysis, oral history projects
• Avoid: Celebrity politics, domestic partisan issues, speculative futurism

Recent accolades include recognition from the Australia Media Union for advancing Balkan conflict journalism. His podcast collaborations demonstrate growing interest in audio storytelling formats.