R2 Studios and historian Kathryn Gehred are excited to announce a new partnership that will bring the highly-rated podcast series Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant to the R2 Studios network.
Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant is a women’s history podcast that showcases 18th and early 19th-century women’s letters that don’t always make it into the history books. Using her training as a historian and documentary editor, Gehred and her guests dig into the story behind each letter and the lives of the women who wrote or received them.
Gehred began the podcast in 2020 and has released 38 episodes with approximately 50,000 downloads to date. “I am THRILLED to announce that Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant is joining the R2 Studios podcast network!,” Gehred said. “This means you're going to see more episodes, with better editing, produced on a regular schedule, with all the same great 18th and 19th-century scandals you've come to expect.”
Previous guests are leading scholars, documentary editors, and museum professionals including Dr. Ivy Schweitzer, professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College; Dr. Lucas Haasis and Lisa Magnin, researchers with the Prize Papers Project; Alexis Coe, New York Times Bestselling Author; Brandon Dillard, the Manager of Historic Interpretation at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello; Dora Petherbridge and Patrick Hart, editors of Henrietta Liston’s journals; Dr. Cassandra Good, Associate Professor of History at Marymount University; and Hilarie M. Hicks, Senior Research Historian at James Madison’s Montpelier. See the full list of past episodes here.
Gehred will continue to host Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant. R2 Studios will produce and distribute the series, with Jeanette Patrick and Jim Ambuske serving as the executive producers.
“We are excited for Kathryn and her show to join R2 Studios,” said Jeanette Patrick, Head of R2 Studios. “She has done a tremendous job creating a fun and thought-provoking series. We look forward to continuing it together and introducing this show to new audiences.”
“I’ve long admired Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant,” said Jim Ambuske. “It’s one of the best women’s and early American history podcasts out there, and Kathryn is one of the best historians in the business. We’re delighted to partner with her as she continues her podcasting journey.”
Find all the episodes of Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
Learn more at www.R2Studios.org
About the Production Team:
Kathryn Gehred is the host and lead historian of Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant. She has a master's degree in Women's History from Sarah Lawrence College and was part of a team of editors who completed The Papers of Martha Washington, a transcribed collection of all of Martha Washington's known correspondence published by UVA Press in 2022. She began releasing Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant in 2020 as a personal side project.
Jeanette Patrick is the Head of R2 Studios. She is a public historian and has an M.A. in Public History from James Madison University. At R2 Studios, she oversees the development and production of all the studio’s podcasts including The Green Tunnel, Worlds Turned Upside Down, and Antisemitism U.S.A. Patrick previously worked in the museum industry where she played a pivotal role in creating digital public history projects. Prior to R2 Studios, Patrick worked for George Washington’s Mount Vernon, where she managed the history and preservation website content and built many digital exhibits. She also wrote scripts for audio and AR tours, live-action films, and animated videos. With Jim Ambuske, Patrick co-created and co-wrote the podcast Intertwined: The Enslaved Community at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Jim Ambuske is a Historian and Senior Producer at R2 Studios. He is a historian of the American Revolution, Scotland, and the British Atlantic World. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia in 2016 and he is the author and co-author of several publications on the American Revolution, transatlantic legal history, and King George III. At R2 Studios, Ambuske serves as the narrator, writer, and creator of the forthcoming series Worlds Turned Upside Down. He is also an executive producer of The Green Tunnel and Antisemitism U.S.A. Before joining R2 Studios, Ambuske led the Center for Digital History at the Washington Library at George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Bridget Bukovich is the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media and R2 Studios. Bridget has an M.A. in Applied History and a graduate certificate in Digital Public Humanities from George Mason University. She is an expert in strategic social media management and digital marketing, with extensive experience in marketing management, community engagement, and outreach. Combining her professional experience in marketing with her education in history, she leads efforts to identify audiences for the resources created by RRCHNM and R2 Studios historians.
About R2 Studios:
R2 Studios is on a mission to democratize history through podcasting. Founded in 2021 by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, we strive to tell unexpected stories based on the latest research to connect listeners with the past.
Our shows are made by professional historians for the public. We build our narrative-driven podcasts on a foundation of primary sources and rigorous scholarship. By combining voices, music, and sounds, we produce series that engage audiences with the complexity of the past and its importance to the present.
Our productions include our Most Obedient & Humble Servant, The Green Tunnel, and Consolation Prize and the forthcoming series Worlds Turned Upside Down and Antisemitism U.S.A.
R2 Studios is part of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University and is named after the founder of our center, Roy Rosenzweig, who had a passion for using new media to democratize access to history.
Learn more at R2Studios.organd follow R2 Studios on Twitter @r2podstudios.