Sarah Vowell

Recently I took a trip to visit St. Benedict's College. Part of my visit included tickets to a talk from Sarah Vowel. I'd never heard of her, while my mother on the other hand was extremere jealous. I had no clue what was in store for me that night. My mother had told me that she was in "This American Life" on NPR and had published a few books. Only when I read the program did I find out she was a historian.
She came on stage and started out with adding a passage from her book about the Salem Witch Trials. At first I thought it was going to be a boring, lecture- like talk about history. However, as she went on and threw in a few jokes, I began to understand why my mother was so jealous. She accomplished one of the greatest things known to man: she made history fun. For the average student history is long, boring, and generic. This was the first time I had ever enjoyed history. She talked about the Salem Witch Trials and industrial tourism., as well as the conquering of Hawaii and industrial tourism. She talked about history without a generic overview. She made it more personal, showing the flaws and mistakes of noteworthy people in history, rather than putting them on the high pedestal that most people do today. I think she is showing history in a way that makes it more interesting to the general public.