# Ep. 02: History from Above and Below **URL:** **By** Jason Kuznicki, Anthony Comegna **Published:** May 9, 2017 --- Everything you learn about why the world is this way was planted in your mind to promote a particular narrative of the world. By studying history, though, we empower ourselves to challenge received wisdom and create knowledge of our own. Sometimes doing history from below (rather than above) is as simple as broadening the scope of your evidence beyond the relatively controllable published record. It might mean deep dives into personal diaries, letters, newspapers, pop and material culture, archeological evidence, or the introduction of a variety of methodological approaches to oft-studied subjects. ### Further Readings/References: [Bertolt Brecht](https://www.marxists.org/subject/art/literature/brecht/) Leonard Read’s “[I, Pencil,](http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html)”