Monthly Digest: August 2025

It’s been a while, but I’m back with the monthly digest. For those new to Liberating Narratives, I send a general update at the end of each month.

Some Reflections

2025 has been a complicated year so far. If you’re reading Liberating Narratives, chances are you don’t like Donald Trump and find his current presidency to be dangerous to democracy. There are days I avoid the news because I don’t want to read anymore about him.

This year has also been wonderful on a personal level. My daughter Jaya turned two this past month. I’ll be the indulgent father; she’s fantastic. I love watching her experience different places, try foods, scramble up playgrounds, and give incredible hugs. On the days I don’t want to think or read about Trump, I focus on Jaya.

I also led an amazing first Liberating Narratives study tour. A small group of four teachers joined me for a week in the Balkans - Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. We had a week of excellent walking tours of Sarajevo, Mostar, and Dubrovnik led by locals. We also enjoyed some delicious meals and discussed what we learned. Travel has always been transformative for me. It shaped who I am as a history teacher and writer. It felt great to lead a group of teachers on a similar journey.

I’m planning to lead another tour next summer. I want to keep the focus on helping educators, but I will open the tour up to “world history enthusiasts.” The plan is to return to the eastern Mediterranean, but I’m unsure if it will be Egypt, Greece, Jordan, or Turkey. Let me know if you have a preference.

If you know anyone interested in traveling to India in February, my wife and I are leading a 10-day yoga retreat in Rajasthan that will blend the region’s rich history with daily yoga classes. Check out Exploring the Heart.

As always, thank you for supporting Liberating Narratives. I have some great topics planned for the next few months and look forward to sharing them with you.

What I’ve Published this Month

You can find links to everything I’ve published on Liberating Narratives since 2016 on the site’s Archive. Everything is organized chronologically.

26 July - “‘A Mixed Population of Muslims and Zanj’: Teaching East Africa in World History, c.1000 to Present” - This free monthly post was for all subscribers. I introduced the focus for the month, which is East Africa.

27 July - “More than Silk on the Silk Roads: Sogdians and Cultural Exchange Across Eurasia” - This short post was for premium subscribers. I discussed how the Seljuq Turks built caravansarais in the thirteenth century.

28 July - “‘All that is Needed to Refresh the Traveler’: Building Caravanserais in Anatolia” - This short post was for premium subscribers. I discussed how to teach the early Swahili Coast, focusing on Kilwa.

2 August - “‘Under God’s Guidance to the Lands of the Swahili Coast’: East Africa Before 1500” - This weekly post was for paid subscribers. I discussed xxx

4 August - “‘Gujarati Clothes are Held in Great Value’: The Demand for Indian Textiles in Southeast Asia, c.1400” - This short post was for premium subscribers. I discussed how we can use textual and material evidence to understand the spread of Indian textiles to Southeast Asia.

11 August - “‘At Variance with the Europeans’: East Africa, 1400 - c.1750” - This weekly post was for paid subscribers. I discussed how we overemphasize Portuguese involvement in East Africa in the 1500s and 1600s. Indigenous Indian Ocean participants continued to shape East African history even after the arrival of the Portuguese.

11 August “‘Let Merchants and Caravans Come and Go’: Mongol Promotion of Trade” - This short post was for premium subscribers. I discussed why and how Mongol rulers encouraged trade.

19 August - “Visualizing Mongol Exchange” - This short post was for premium subscribers. I discussed how the trebuchet can be used to teach technological exchange under the Mongols.

22 August - “‘Everything is Found in Zanzibar’: East Africa, Zanzibar, and World History in the Nineteenth Century” - This weekly post was for paid subscribers. I discussed how Zanzibar was one of the critical hubs of world trade in 1850. Unlike many other new nineteenth-century entrepôts, it wasn’t Europeans who made Zanzibar.

25 August - “‘As Soon as the Merchants Arrive’: Melaka and Indian Ocean Trade Before 1450” - This short post was for premium subscribers. I discussed why Melaka became one of the most important ports in the Indian Ocean in the fifteenth century.

27 August - “‘The Horrors of the Cruel System of Slavery’: Revisiting the Transatlantic Slave System” - This free monthly post was for all subscribers. I introduced the focus for the month, which is revisiting the transatlantic slave system. I’m looking back at what I’ve previously written about the slave trade and slavery and reflecting on new scholarship.

31 August - “‘A Huge Contingent of Armed Africans’: Revisiting Enslaved African Resistance” - This weekly post was for paid subscribers. I discussed the 1835 Malê Revolt, the largest urban slave uprising in the Americas.

You can find links to everything I’ve published on Liberating Narratives since 2016 on the site’s Archive. Everything is organized chronologically.

On the Road

I was all over the map this summer. I was in Kansas City for the AP World History reading at the beginning of June. I hadn’t attended the reading since 2017, so it felt fun coming back. I saw many old friends and talked about my life changes. I also met lots of new teachers. It was also great to see how teachers think about teaching world history. I worry about being away from the classroom, so I want to know what teachers are doing. At this point, I’m planning on heading back next year.

I then set off with my family to Zanzibar. We spent ten days there planning a yoga retreat for September 2026. We also enjoyed some family time at the beach. We were in Stone Town for four days, and I went on an excellent walking tour. I also visited the Anglican Cathedral, which has an exhibit about the East African Slave Trade. The recent posts on East Africa were shaped by my time in Zanzibar.

We then flew to London to catch up with friends. I didn’t visit any historical sites, but I was amazed to see how the old coal drop yards and Regent’s Canal have been restored and transformed. Both are sites critical to London’s nineteenth-century growth. Like many old industrial sites, they had fallen into disrepair. Coal Drops Yard is now a beautiful public space filled with shops, restaurants, and open spaces. If you find yourself in London, check it out. It’s fun staring up at the skeleton of an old coal tower that has been converted into living spaces.

After London, we headed to the Balkans for the first Liberating Narratives study tour. We spent 2 weeks in Bosnia and Croatia. I loved watching folks engage with our incredible guides: Adis in Sarajevo, Sevko and Arnela in Mostar, and Vlaho in Dubrovnik. They are all passionate about their hometowns and sharing the nuances of regional history. For 8 days, the group had stimulating conversations about the history of the Balkans and how we can teach it.

Liberating Narratives is written by Bram Hubbell. If you’ve valued reading this post, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your financial contribution supports independent, advertising-free materials for teachers. Thank you, friends.

If you would like, please forward this message to a friend or colleague and let them know where they can subscribe. (Hint: it's here.)

If you have any comments or suggestions, please share them with me or post them below. I can also be reached on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and email.