I am a native of Virginia and have studied VA history for almost 50 years. My bachelor’s degree and Master’s degrees are both in the study of VA history. The narrator of this podcast is the least engaging and least interesting speaker to ever do a podcast. I have repeatedly tried to overlook his horrible delivery, mispronunciations of VA localities, and people, but I cannot. Your mileage may vary.

“This whole transgender nonsense” Really bro if your going to have history content, great. Don’t have old white dudes on your show talking nonsense like this. At the very least, edit this kooks outdated opinions.

Keep on standing unabashedly athwart of the cultural Marxism and critical race theory that has murdered history. Sending support from a former UofSC History PhD candidate!

I had to give up on the Virginia History Podcast. It started off as a solid narrative of Virginia’s political history starting with the Jamestown colony but the host has lost the plot. Literally. Upon reaching the 1640’s, the show has devolved into a never ending review of Virginia’s First Families, which has been the focus for several years now. Interesting at first, it quickly became a tedious tangent that apparently Mr Van Ness can’t find the way out of. The biggest strength of the VHP are the interviews (with notable exceptions). Mr. Van Ness is an affable host who will go to various historical sites and sits down with local staff. They are fun, educational, and interesting and are by far the best part of the podcast. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to just listen to the interview episodes and skip the rest. Unfortunately Mr Van Ness lets his personal political views get it the way. Early on I suspected his politics leaned right due to certain phrases he’d use (“Indian” instead of “Native American”, stating the early colony failed because it wasn’t capitalist enough). But the gloves come off when he spends two extended episodes just slagging off on the 1619 Project. At first I thought he was looking at both side of the issue and doing a “Pro” episode and a “Anti” episode, but nope, it’s just a full on Faux News style hate fest for both episodes. Fair and balanced, it ain’t. After that I just couldn’t take the show seriously. Finally, comment must be made on the interlude music, which goes on far too long and is usually unrelated to the topic being discussed. I get it, there’s a need for something to make the transition between segments but most shows put in a 5-10 second bumper and move on. Here the interlude music drags on for whole minutes between segments. I mean, if you’re going to lay down a whole Mumford & Sons track down, don’t you need to pay royalties or something?

I really enjoy listening to this podcast because many of my ancestors are mentioned. My great-grandmother’s maiden name was Armistead. I can’t wait to listen to more episodes! Would love for you to do an episode on the Winston’s of Virginia and their connections. I am also a Winston descendant.

Content is limited to Virginia- not a problem, given its fascinating and voluminous history. Unfortunately, the podcast has become parochial to the point of being uninteresting to those outside the state. E.g., the never ending series on Virginia’s first families is difficult to identify with, as are routine references to local sites, parks, bridges, etc.

I love this podcast, and it makes me an even prouder Virginian

I wanted to thank you for this podcast! I am a genealogist and being able to hear this podcast has helped me greatly and being able to track what was happening at the time of my ancestors I am researching.

Thank you for producing an excellent podcast on a topic of great interest to me. I listen to it earnestly despite the annoyingly long musical interludes sprinkled throughout.

I feel in recent months that Mr. Van Ness has lost interest in the topics that made his initial podcasts so special. His recent 1619 obsessions are revealing. While The New York Times 1619 project was flawed, Mr. Van Ness has now devoted two podcasts to political extremists who bring their own rather eccentric agendas to “debunk” the project. I get enough politics and social strife from my newspapers, thank you very much.

I used to think this podcast was OK. After this sad projection laden discussion about the 1619 project, I will never listen to you again. Horrible.

The podcast goes in depth and provides a great historical perspective

episode one: - the term “Indian” is not accurate. -very mono-toned :/ and a lot of audio jumps while speaking. -i love VA history so i’ll keep listening but not very impressed so far - virginia’s history did not begin in the 1500s, indigenous people lived there prior. i think this show could be improved upon with a guest to bounce off of.

Thank you!, for helping keep our history alive. A service as important as any service to be provided. History is the the rudder to this human experience without it we are just adrift.

Excellent, informative, well-presented, my new favorite podcast!

The podcast covers a variety of common and delightfully obscure vignettes of Virginia history. The presenter either speaks himself or interviews people knowledgeable about the episode’s topic. I have found all the episode’s interesting, even as a person who prides himself on the depth and breadth of his knowledge of the Commonwealth’s history. My only criticism is that sometimes the musical interludes between segments are rather odd choices, ie, heavy metal music during an episode dealing with Virginia’s pre-Revolutionary history.

I enjoy these podcasts very much. Well written and interesting. At first the musical interludes were head-scratching for me, but I’ve come to enjoy them. Is the narrator also the writer?

Well presented, high quality audio, and very interesting content. I’m learning so much.

This podcast presents the history of Virginia in a way that can be easily understood and enjoyed by all! The host is very passionate and clearly knows what he's talking about! If you love U.S. history, this podcast is an excellent place to start!

This podcast and History of Maryland podcast are fabulous for learning about the early history of our country and my own families’ histories. Very well written and entertaining. Deserves a very large audience! Thank you! Music interludes seem louder than narrative which can be a bit jolting, though selections are intriguing.

Enjoy delivery, intermittent music and interesting facts and interviews. Would love them to be released more often!! Keep it up!

I only stumbled on these today. Excellent, digestible bites of VA history, particularly as it occurred along the James River. I will be telling other members of my local society, and recommending!

This is perhaps one of the most well done podcasts I have ever listened to. Previous reviews talk about a rough start -- you can't detect any of that from its most recent vintage. The history is excellent, well researched, and the presentation is phenomenal. This is now a part of my podcasting repertoire. Tremendous podcast -- you will not regret giving this a try. Five stars because I could not give it six stars.

I enjoy colonial American history and this podcast fits the bill. Robert does a great job on detail and relates the history in an engaging manor. Please listen to this podcast if you are at all interested in the time period and Virginia. You won't be disappointed

Being an early American history enthusiast, I've heard/read the Jamestown/founding of Virginia story countless times. However, this retelling is the first one in a long while in which I came away with new knowledge. Robert does a great job of explaining both the overarching events that impacted the establishment of Virginia as well as the details on the ground during those first steps. I'm looking forward to hearing more about the early days of Virginia as the podcast progresses.

In choosing to tell a history of Virginia, Rob has chosen to focus on a state that was integral to the development and continued growth of the U.S. Considering that Virginia was amongst the earliest sites to see colonization, the podcast has done a great job placing the colonial activity in the context of the political and other situations of the mother country as well. I really enjoyed the series on Roanoke and the various theories regarding one of America’s oldest mysteries. The podcast should continue to deliver quality history into the future, so get on board!

The podcast started out a little rough but I think the presenter's research, composition, and delivery have improved greatly.