We caught up with Dr Simon to let out how incisively one becomes a world expert on plagiarist , navigating conversations with people who may not be as enthusiastic about public execution as you , and how to hustle severely to make your dream career come truthful . Oh , and perhaps lay off the swaggering joke .
What do you do ?
I ’m a full - time pirate historian , generator , and historical consultant . I am also a part - time professor of history at a biotic community college where I learn Western Civilization and early American story .
Simon’s first published book explores how the general public became fascinated by the lives (and deaths) of pirates. Image courtesy of Rebecca Simon
What did it take to get here ?
Lots of school ! I did a BA in chronicle at the University of San Francisco , an MA in early modern Atlantic history at California State University Northridge , and finally a Ph.D. in account at King ’s College London . My doctorate was about public execution of pirate in Britain and the British - Americas between 1670 and 1830 . It was a journey to get where I am now and the work really start out during my PhD. I was dynamic on Twitter and I ’d tweet quite a bit about pirates , researching , comical observations in libraries and archives , and just grad school devilry in general .
I deliver at loads of conference and when you ’re presenting at group discussion related to your distinctiveness , you start seeing the same people over and over so I gained scores of not bad friends and colleagues with contacts . Because I was quite fighting , I got require to save a guest web log about public instruction execution of plagiarist . This was found by producers at the BBC who were take a documentary series , Britain ’s Outlaws , and I was need to be one of the featured historians .
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Simon’s latest book is the first full-length biography of the infamous female pirates operating at the height of piracy’s heyday in the early 1700s. Image courtesy of Rebecca Simon
I was asked to indite several guest blog during my Ph.D. because plagiarization was generating a lot of involvement . I also started a website / blog and wrote about pirates , my experience , etc . After I graduated , I moved back to Los Angeles and began teaching chronicle at a private school . I continued blogging and was get hold of by some podcasters to guest on their shows , includingGetting Curiouswith Jonathan Van Ness and [ the Blackbeard episode of]You’re Dead To Me , both of which were quite pop . Then , because I was still update my internet site , I got reach by the History Channel and I ’ve since become one of the featured historian for shows likeThe Curse of Oak Island , Beyond Oak Island , andUnexplained . Netflix also contacted me to be interviewed for the docu - drama , The Lost Pirate Kingdom .
Eventually , some publishers reach me . Commissioning editors need me to indite record proposal about pirates and this led to the issue of two ledger : Why We Love Pirates : The Hunt for Captain Kidd and How He Changed Piracy Forever(Mango Publishing Group , 2020 ) andPirate Queens : The Lives of Anne Bonny and Mary Read(2022 ) .
Then in 2019 , a community college hired me to instruct part - clip and with all these contracts and opportunities , I decide it was sentence to take the jump into my long - conceive of finish : to be a full - meter writer / historian and part - time professor . In 2020 I did just that and I ’ve been working for myself and the residential district college for over two years now ! It was a long journey but I attain it through lots of heavy work , self - promotion , sound out yes to loads of free body of work , and finally , I made a name for myself !
guess you ’ve fill yourself as a adolescent at a life history fair : How would you line what you do to your former self ?
I am a pirate historian and part - time prof . I have written three books and so far two of them have been published . I am often commission to write articles about pirates for various history magazines , websites , and web log . I sometimes get interesting research work for various organizations , such as the Netflix showHistorical Roastsand others I ca n’t refer because of vexing NDAs .
Most of these people reach out to me because I have a good online presence . When I ’m not writing , I look on loads of unlike podcasts . Some are paid , some are amateur , but that ’s OK because they ’re fun . My part - prison term job is teaching at Santa Monica College . It ’s a community college so the courses are general male erecticle dysfunction and I teach Western Civ I Ancient – 1648 , Western Civ II 1648 – Present , and American History to 1865 . They ’re so much sport !
What ’s the most unwashed misconception about your line of work ?
A lot of times people conceive I just sit around or hang out at java shops reading at my leisure time . Or I get jokes about swashbuckling , etc .
In general , I imagine people recall that I can take time off whenever I want or that my days are n’t that busy and I can stop working at a dip of the hat . The realness is every mean solar day is different and I am always working towards various deadlines . Since so much of my work is feast or famine , I must be really heedful and structure my time well and also advocate for myself by pitching my own work . My oeuvre is challenge , and I must hustle really firmly and stay very organized , but I really enjoy it .
What is your proudest achievement so far ?
There are two . The first is complete my PhD. I moved to London to do it and I did n’t know a single person in the urban center and all my mob and friends are in Los Angeles . It was terrifying but I did it and I did a with child job .
My other achievement that I ’m gallant of is my second book , Pirate Queens . This book was really challenging because there are hardly any sources about these two distaff plagiarist , so I had to really dig inscrutable and immerse myself in raw area of history , such as char ’s history and sexuality studies . It was fascinating . I also compose the ledger during the stature of the pandemic so I could n’t get to any research institutions , so I had to rely on a lot of my own resource . I had to be creative . But I ’m proud of how the volume turn out and it ’s been get positive feedback .
Funniest moment on the job ?
I have been researching pirates and slaying for a very long fourth dimension . These are both such fascinating depicted object to me and I love reading everything I can about them . As a consequence , I forget that violent pirate and brutal execution can be difficult or even frightening for people to hear / scan about . Once I was give an audience and I was discussing an slaying in detail . When I finished the interviewer asked , “ How are you able to sound so pollyannaish about this ? ” She did n’t ask it in a judgmental way . We were both laugh and I excuse that I am just very passionate about my subject and I forget that it ’s in reality quite dreary because I ’ve become a bit desensitized to it .
Memorable misstep / haired moment on the Book of Job ?
The 2d podcast I ever did wasHound Tallwith Moshe Kasher . This was a resilient drollery podcast with the Upright Citizen ’s Brigade in Los Angeles where I was on a venire with Moshe and several comedian . They dispose out jokes and were “ guy ” me and pirates while involve questions at the same time . I was nervous to be doing this with an audience and I was a bit flustered with all the activity on stage .
When they ask me about the pirate , Blackbeard , I went into his history and talked about how the plagiarist Jack Rackham sailed with him . They guess the name was hilarious and kept shouting “ Rrrrrrrrrackham ! ” over and over . But something in my intestine told me that something was off . I listened to the podcast by and by and realized that I ’d made a mistake . Blackbeard sail with Stede Bonnet – NOT Rackham ! I was so embarrassed ! I have a PhD in pirates – how could I have made that mistake ? Well , I ’m human and we all make error . I still cringe about it though .
What do you never leave the house without / what ’s your most treasured piece of kit ?
I have intercourse to read so I never leave the business firm without my Kindle . I choose strong-arm transcript of books but the Kindle is so commodious . I read everywhere and if I do n’t have it , I sense like I ’ve left something as important as my wallet at home plate .
What ’s one while of advice you ’d give to someone wanting to ship on the same career ?
Be active on social medium – Twitter , Tiktok , whatever you like to use . Twitter ( @Beckalex ) is how I nonplus a lot of opportunities when I started out . ensure to connection . run into other writers or historians ( if that ’s what you ’re into ) through online groups and conferences . Say yes to every opportunity . require to process for free for a bit but once you ’re established , NEVER work for free again .
Do n’t be afraid to put yourself out there . It ’s shivery but necessary and people are much prissy than you think . If you feel like you have imposter syndrome , pretend you ’re the unspoiled at what you do and you ’ll finger more confident ! Finally , if you resolve to do a Ph.D. , ensure that you either get backing or can pay off for as much of it yourself as you’re able to . Do n’t go into debt because the academic job market is voiceless .
