Podcast Summary:

How I Write
Host: David Perell
Guest: Diarmaid MacCulloch
Episode: "How to Write Rigorously Well"
Date: February 12, 2026

Overview

In this episode of How I Write, David Perell sits down with renowned historian, author, and Oxford professor Diarmaid MacCulloch to unravel the inner workings of a historian’s craft—from rigorous research to the artistry of clear, impactful writing. The conversation explores the historian’s moral purpose in society, the importance of skepticism and sympathy, crafting narrative from incomplete records, the interplay between fiction and fact, and the alchemy that turns dry data into vital, memorable prose. MacCulloch’s advice is as pragmatic as it is philosophical, sharing not just rules for research and writing, but the spirit that animates both.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Historian's Moral and Societal Role

• The Historian as Guardian of Sanity
  • MacCulloch positions historians as champions of truth and sanity, akin to moral guardians (00:39).
  • “History is there as a defense against lies. The person who is taken over by lies is no longer sane. So I’m defending the human race against madness.” – MacCulloch (01:51)
  • He credits his parson father, who had “parson’s freehold” (i.e., tenure), for modeling fearless truth-telling as a public duty (01:16).
• The Humanizing Power of the Humanities
  • History, philosophy, and literature foster empathy and moral perspective, in contrast to the technical focus of STEM (03:24).

Principles for Aspiring Historians

• Skepticism and Sympathy
  • MacCulloch lays out twin pillars for researchers: “Be skeptical and then be sympathetic, and the skepticism stops you being too sympathetic.” (04:23)
  • Always question both source motives and your own assumptions, without losing sight of the fundamental humanity of historical figures (05:06).
• Structure vs. Agency
  • The study of history balances the system and the individual; the context and the person (05:30).

The Practice and Routine of Writing History

• Work Habits
  • Contrary to the romantic image of obsessive study, MacCulloch follows a disciplined, humane routine (06:45):
    • Works 08:30–19:00, never at night.
    • Takes daily naps; divides the day into three, works for two of them (07:17).
  • “You simply cannot work well if you just work nonstop.” (07:52)
• Research Methodology
  • Begin with secondary sources to absorb prevailing narratives, then interrogate primary sources anew to challenge clichés (08:17).
  • “Get the clichés in your mind. Do not be… dominated by the clichés, but know what they are. And then you can go back to the original sources and look for yourself.” (09:27)

The Artistry and Responsibility of Historical Writing

• Criteria for Beautiful Historical Writing
  • As a judge for the Wolfson History Prize, MacCulloch favors substance over style (10:45), emphasizing accessibility and inspiration.
  • Great prose is not “purple,” but can make a reader “smile two or three times and still subsequently make me think” (12:51).
  • “Leaden prose” and cliché-ridden writing are easy to spot—and to avoid (13:34).
• Dangers of Overly Elegant, Yet Misleading Histories
  • Well-written, compelling history (e.g., by Churchill) may distort via omission or bias—historians must practice the “yes, but” approach (14:37).
  • “It’s always possible to write beguiling history, which is terribly misleading. And the historian’s motto really ought to be yes, but.” (15:18)
• Fact, Fiction, and Understanding the Past
  • Nonfiction offers rigor at the cost of completeness; fiction, as with Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell novels, offers immersion but can invent (“may have” vs. narrative certainty) (17:34).
  • Historians and novelists are “next to each other in what we’re doing” (19:34).

The Importance of Sense of Place

• Embodied Knowledge
  • Visiting actual locations deeply enriches a historian’s understanding—beyond what books or the Internet can offer (23:46).
  • Example: Experiencing Moscow’s St. Basil’s Cathedral firsthand transformed MacCulloch’s interpretation and writing (26:54).
  • “It is the mind of a mad czar. And I experienced that.... It was an extraordinary example of how place could simply alter the way in which you looked at the story you were telling.” (27:50)
• Limits of Second-Hand Experience
  • Books confer miracle access to past worlds, yet can’t replicate the sensory truths of place (30:07).
  • “But you can tell people about it. That’s part of your job as a historian. You’re trying to allow them to get into a place or a person’s mind, which they won’t otherwise do.” (30:14)

Confronting Bias and Reconstructing Truth

• History Written by the Victors?
  • Most history is indeed the narrative of winners—historians must actively "fight against" that distortion (32:07).
  • “The history written by the winners is not true, but it contains truth.” (32:24)
  • Example: Bede’s selective account of Christianity in England is invaluable but incomplete; archaeology can correct the narrative (33:15).
• Declaring One’s Biases
  • MacCulloch advocates honesty about one’s position and perspective. Each historian should “tell our readers … who I am.” (36:07)
  • “None of us are neutral and we can’t be. … We may write against our passionately held convictions if there’s any honesty about us.” (36:51)

The Historian’s Many Roles

• Friend, Guide, Counselor, Entertainer
  • Historians should play several metaphorical roles for their readers: non-directive counselor (helping readers think for themselves), entertainer (avoiding boredom), and friend/guide (37:37–39:09).
  • Irony and the embrace of the “bizarre” help readers encounter the true strangeness of the past (40:03).
  • “We underestimate the role of lunacy in history. Some people in the past are just mad.” (40:03)

Teaching History and the Playful Spirit of Inquiry

• Pedagogical Games
  • MacCulloch opens introductory history courses with "Elizabeth I Was a Carrot"—a game distinguishing real historical statements from nonsense, to teach discernment and skepticism (42:43).
  • “History is about play, like all good human activities, and we don’t enjoy it, then it’s not worth doing. But it’s also passionately important to get it right, because it’s about sanity.” (45:02)

Notable Quotes

• On the historian’s societal charge:
  “So the historian is the guardian of sanity in society.” — MacCulloch (02:44)

• On skepticism and sympathy:
  “Be skeptical and then be sympathetic, and the skepticism stops you being too sympathetic.” — MacCulloch (04:23)

• On the limits—and uses—of cliché:
  “Get the clichés in your mind. Do not be… dominated by the clichés, but know what they are.” — MacCulloch (09:27)

• On the nature of historical prose:
  “I like it if it makes me smile. I suspect it if it makes me laugh.” — MacCulloch (13:18)

• On the function of history:
  “But the satisfying part of it is it is true. It is more true than the simplifying versions, the heroic versions of the past.” — MacCulloch (15:08)

• On fact vs. narrative possibility:
  “The novelist never has to say, may have. … But as a historian, I must.” — MacCulloch (18:47)

• On sense of place:
  “So place right from the start was hugely central to my sense of being a historian.” — MacCulloch (24:55)

• On declaring bias:
  “None of us are neutral and we can’t be. We’re human beings and we have passionately held convictions which shape the story which we write. But we may write against our passionately held convictions if there’s any honesty about us.” — MacCulloch (36:51)

• On “bizarre” and “funny” history:
  “We underestimate the role of lunacy in history. Some people in the past are just mad.” — MacCulloch (40:03)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Historians as moral guardians & truth seekers: 00:39–04:09
• Skepticism & Sympathy: 04:23–05:30
• Day-to-day writing routine: 06:23–08:17
• Research process – from clichés to sources: 08:17–10:10
• Wolfson History Prize, the art of writing history: 10:45–14:26
• “Yes, but”—the essential historical posture: 14:37–16:09
• Fact vs. fiction, Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell: 17:29–22:07
• The transformative power of place: 23:46–28:18
• Limits of reading/necessity of experience: 28:18–31:37
• History written by the victors and combating bias: 32:07–36:07
• Declaring one’s bias to the reader: 36:07–37:16
• Historians as guides, friends, counselors, entertainers: 37:16–40:03
• Embracing the bizarre and the irrational: 40:03–42:24
• Game-based pedagogy in history: 42:43–45:29

Memorable Moments

• MacCulloch’s unapologetic defense of daily naps as vital to long-term productivity (07:17).
• The “Elizabeth I Was a Carrot” classroom game, showing how playful skepticism is the historian’s entryway to truth (42:43).
• MacCulloch’s account of being alone in St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, viscerally feeling the “mind of a mad czar”—an example of experiences that can transform written history (27:50).

Conclusion

Diarmaid MacCulloch’s philosophy of history is both ethically serious and playfully human. Skeptical but never cynical, he models an approach that treats history as a defense of sanity—an ongoing dialogue among imperfect human narrators, driven by curiosity, humility, and a sense of both the bizarre and the beautiful. For MacCulloch, writing history “rigorously well” is not just about sourcing or style: it’s about the courage to question, the grace to empathize, and the humility to admit both what we know and what we cannot.

This summary captures the essential content and spirit of the episode, spotlighting both informative process and lively personality—useful for students, writers, and all listeners curious about the craft and significance of historical writing.