Michael Ruiz is a writer and marketing professional based in Atlanta, Georgia. When not working, his hobbies primarily focus on mass communication projects, with production credits on several podcasts as well as writing for stage and film. In September, he and Graham Parker started the "Grisly History" Podcast. "Grisly History" is a monthly, long-form podcast. ( https://www.grislyhistory.com/main ) Find it wherever you find podcasts.
1. How and when did you get hooked on history?
History has always been a part of my upbringing in many ways due to cultural intersections in my childhood home.
I was primarily raised by my mother and stepfather, who had two distinctly different cultures. My mother (as I am) is purely Puerto Rican in ethnicity–holding onto that culture tightly and teaching me about my heritage daily, while raising me in Georgia. My stepfather on the other hand was from a proud American military family. He would often share stories of his father quite literally freeing victims of the Holocaust from concentration camps.
So, on one hand, I was given this idea of American Exceptionalism, and an ideation on fundamentally “American” values of justice and liberty. But on the other hand, I learned very early on that my own cultural heritage stems from an island nation traded between two larger colonial forces as a result of war. I found myself very conflicted on how to feel on all of this, and I think the time I spent as a kid wrestling on these things instilled a lifelong interest in history and the impact of previous events on our cultures, nations, and ideals.
2. What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?
Building off of what I said as it pertains to my childhood, I think history has really informed my personal feelings of identity, heritage, and culture. I always felt like I was torn between embracing a culture I was raised in but have no blood claim to or embracing a culture I was born from but had no experience with. And I think history helps with these sorts of identity crises because we can see that every nation’s culture and identity is a complex web of international, geographical, or other influence.
I think history and the study of it has helped me see a broader picture of the world, which has in turn informed my views on everything from culture to politics. I believe Mark Twain came up with (or popularized) the idea that travel is the death of ignorance, bigotry, or prejudice. And I wholeheartedly agree–but the study of history empowers us to travel without ever leaving our homes. To get those broader experiences under our belts and get out of the narrower mindset that forms by looking only to what you have experienced alone.
3. How does history play a part of your professional life/career?
I have found history to be important in a more subversive manner in my professional life. I work in marketing, so of course much of my work is for an American audience and my knowledge of American history informs that. But my company is very international–we have people from every inhabited continent on our small team. The other day my co-worker asked me to describe “the American culture,” and I found myself continuing to talk about the history of the United States to bolster my views on the subject.
4. Why is studying/knowing history important?
I’ve essentially already said this, but I think history is our window into why people think the way they think, feel the way they feel, vote how they vote, etc.
It’s helped me understand the differences between my parents on their own worldviews, for example. And I think, in an increasingly divided age in this country, it’s critical to take a look at those diametrically opposed to you and explore what they were taught and who they were taught by to come to their conclusions. In that same vein, it’s important to take a look at yourself as well.
It’s a lot easier to exercise patience with those you may disagree with when you understand they have their own reasonings–possibly very good and valid reasonings–to view things differently than you.
5. What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?
This comes from a biased perspective on my own education, but I love learning about Chinese and Japanese history–particularly leading up to the 20th century. It’s not something I was taught much in school, and I think in my area, it’s a history very few people explore. Particularly regarding Chinese history, I feel somewhat embarrassed to claim to love history and now produce a history podcast yet know so little about the most populous country in the world.
6. How did you decide to start the Grisly History podcast and, briefly, what's involved in starting up?
Grisly History was Graham Parker’s idea initially, and I think the process of starting it up was mostly focused on figuring out the format, structure, and what we both wanted out of it.
Graham and I go back about ten years now, so working together was a no-brainer. But I was really excited about the prospect of getting a history podcast together, as shows like Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History have just amazed me with the scope of the stories and the depth of information shared. I had the technical know-how to put the show together, and Graham had a clear vision for research and development, so the collaboration made a lot of sense.
I really enjoy the challenge of it, too. We’re talking about real stories, and real people, so the fidelity to the truth must be the top priority. At the same time, the process of culling through Graham’s research and finding the narrative to tell isn’t easy.
As with any show, you must pick and choose your phrasing carefully and determine what gets more or less emphasis in order to fit the time frame and the scope of the work. We’re trying to give an overview that’s faithful to the truth, but clear to those who aren’t familiar with what we’re talking about. It’s a balancing act, but a terrific challenge.
7. Why should listeners listen to your podcast and what do you think they will take away from it?
We want people to learn about history they’ve never heard before. We just finished up our series on the USS Indianapolis, and that’s likely the most “famous” event we’re going to cover for a long time, and even then, we had people contact us to share that they hadn’t even heard of the story beyond “Jaws.”
There are so many real-life stories that aren’t taught to us as kids not because of any malicious intent or not because they aren’t interesting, but due to the limitations of what can be taught in a certain time frame. And I think our format focuses on putting humanity back into things–sometimes going into second person to really paint the mental image and showcase that these things really happened.
Mostly, I hope that our podcast acts as a conduit for people to begin to research these things as we have and so many others have. It’s a fascinating world out there–always has been. You just have to take the time to learn about it.
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