Brad Meltzer’s Decoded a new program from the History Channel, explores where public history and archives meet, challenging three professionals to apply their research and analytical skills to historical documents.
The series focuses on historical mysteries, particularly conspiracies. Archives and Public History program alumna Andrea Meyer will appear in the upcoming January 27th episode of the show. In this episode, she will talk with the researchers about the Culper Spy Ring and Benedict Arnold’s treason, discussing manuscript materials in several New York area collections. Meyer’s work as an APH student on an Omeka website and an article for New York State Archives magazine led a production company to contact her about the episode.
The series is expected to help shift the network to more directly focus on historical subjects. This is an interesting opportunity to explore television’s interaction with history and archival research. Series excerpts and the first episode are currently available online, and other episodes are expected to be posted on the History Channel’s website. The show airs Thursdays at 10 pm EST.