R2 Studios and The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media are excited to announce that production is underway for Worlds Turned Upside Down. This new podcast series tells the story of the American Revolution as a transatlantic crisis and imperial civil war through the lives of people who experienced it.
For many modern citizens of the United States, “the cause of America” that gave birth to a new nation in 1776 and the heroic stories we tell ourselves about its founding remains “in great measure the cause of all mankind.” But for the people who lived through it, the revolutionary era upended their lives in ways they could never have imagined. The crisis that engulfed the Atlantic world in the late eighteenth century inspired British Americans, Indigenous nations, enslaved Africans and African Americans, Europeans, and other peoples to question their loyalties, challenge authority, seek freedom, and resist revolutionary change.
“The Revolution is central to the story of the American founding and to our identity as a people,” said series creator Jim Ambuske. "For most Americans, the story of the Revolution is a heroic tale of a small but determined band of Patriots who defended their rights and liberties against the nefarious designs of the British and the tyrannical madness of King George III. But for the people who lived through it, the Revolution was a transatlantic crisis and an imperial civil war that reshaped the world around them.”
Worlds will explore the era of the American Revolution as its contemporaries knew it, as a chaotic period that upended their lives in ways they could not have imagined, and help audiences discover a Revolution that was more than just a war for independence. With the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, there is no better time to re-examine our revolutionary past.
The series is narrated, written, and created by Jim Ambuske and is executive produced by Jeanette Patrick.
Get ready to have your world turned upside down beginning Fall 2023.
About the Production Team:
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 an executive producer of The Green Tunnel podcast. Before joining R2 Studios, Ambuske led the Center for Digital History at the Washington Library at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, where he hosted and produced the podcast, Conversations at the Washington Library and with Jeanette Patrick co-created and co-wrote the podcast series, Intertwined: The Enslaved Community at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. He is also a former Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia Law Library. At UVA Law Library, Ambuske co-directed the 1828 Catalouge Project and the Scottish Court of Session Digital Archive Project. Follow him on Twitter @jamespambuske, or on Mastodon and Instagram @jimambuske.
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 and Worlds Turned Upside Down. 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. Before Mount Vernon, Patrick was employed by the National Women’s History Museum, where she created a walking tour about the women who lived in Alexandria, Virginia during the Civil War, edited a series of children’s books, and directed “A Report on the Status of Women in the United States Social Studies Standards.”
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.
Hayley Madl is a Ph.D. student at George Mason University. She currently works as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media and as a Podcast Producer at R2 Studios whose credits include The Green Tunnel podcast. Hayley’s past work has centered on Indigenous expressions of sovereignty in treaty councils during the eighteenth century, particularly among the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations). Her current research focuses on the applications of 3D modeling and digital reconstruction to community memory and lost landscapes, especially within Indigenous communities.
Alison Langford is an Administrative Associate at RRCHNM, where she serves as the studio administrator for R2 Studios. At the studio, Langford coordinates scheduling interviews with podcast contributors, helps steward donor gifts, drafts newsletters, and keeps things running smoothly. She has a B.A. in English from George Mason University.
About R2 Studios:
R2 Studio is the podcast division of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. The studio creates engaging, deeply researched history podcasts for audiences worldwide. Its productions include The Green Tunnel podcast, Consolation Prize, and an upcoming series on the history of American Antisemitism.
Learn more at R2Studios.org and follow R2 Studios on Twitter @r2podstudios.
