Axelbank Reports History and Today
168 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago -"Axelbank Reports History and Today: Conversations with America’s top non-fiction authors and why their books matter right now" approaches our past and present in a way that makes anyone want to listen. National-award winning TV news reporter Evan Axelbank interviews writers of history and current events to explore how America works and how it has been shaped by both the powerful and the powerless. In conversational and engaging fashion, listeners learn about the most important events, themes and figures in American history. This podcast shows why we have no choice but to understand where we have been, to know where we are going.
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Episodes
#107: Andrew Rice - "The Year that Broke America"
December 13, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 42.3 MBIn his book, "The Year that Broke America," Andrew Rice doesn't just argue that the year 2000 changed things, he argued that it broke everything. From the presidential election, to the seeds of the 9/11 plot, to Elian Gonzalez to reality TV, he explains how a confluence of unfortunate incidents led America down a path from which it has never recovered. It's also easy to forget that Donald Trump waged a presidential run that year, a run that showed him how the country wasn't yet ready for his...
#106: Jeremi Suri - "Civil War by Other Means"
December 06, 2022 05:00 - 52 minutes - 36.1 MBIn this episode, Dr. Jeremi Suri explains how the Civil War was only the most violent part of the attempt to subvert American democracy by southern states. During the late 1860s until the 1890s, he explains how southern politicians, white supremacists and Confederate veterans stopped Black Americans from participating in public life. In his book, "Civil War by Other Means: America's Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy," Suri shows how violence and political will destroyed the American cr...
#105: Stephen Knott - "Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy"
November 22, 2022 05:00 - 45 minutes - 31.5 MBThere are few presidents as highly regarded and as misunderstood as John F. Kennedy. The horrific death of the 35th president froze him in time, allowing his legacy to be crafted by those who wished to see him lionized, while squeezing out the critique all presidents must face in order for the nation to learn from their successes and failures. In "Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy," Dr. Stephen Knott explores his personal journey in understanding JFK, while also examining the most hotly-d...
#104: Bryan Appleyard - "The Car"
November 15, 2022 05:00 - 54 minutes - 37.2 MBThe car is the ultimate two-sided coin. It takes you where you want to go, but it pollutes. You're outside, but trapped inside. It's easier than walking or biking, but MUCH more expensive. And the history of it is loaded with incredible technological advancements, but it brought mass death to our society. In his book, "The Car: The Machine that Made the Modern World," Bryan Appleyard explains the rise of the world's most useful machine, but also why it is doomed to fail. You'll never see you...
#103: Carole Adrienne - "Healing a Divided Nation"
November 08, 2022 05:00 - 55 minutes - 38.4 MBThe beginning of the movie "Lincoln" shows a horrific battle scene, where men in blue and gray are locked in hand to hand combat. There are fists, spears and guns. The division and the brutality are apparent, as soldiers discard the humanity of their opponents. Some of them died on the battlefield. We have certainly spent our fair share of time honoring the giants of the war itself. But in her book, "Healing a Divided Nation: How the American Civil War Revolutionized Medicine," Carole Adrien...
#102: Paul Fischer - "The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures"
November 01, 2022 04:00 - 52 minutes - 35.9 MBThe next time you watch a movie, give credit where credit is due. No, it wasn't Thomas Edison who invented movie cameras, it was a now-forgotten fellow named Louis Le Prince. Only two years after he designed his groundbreaking camera and filmed the "Roundhay Garden Scene" (which can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAiYFEHI9o8), he disappeared, leaving others to grapple for position in the new medium. In our episode, we chatted with author Paul Fischer about his book, "The Man ...
#101: Peter Baker - "The Divider"
October 18, 2022 04:00 - 40 minutes - 28.1 MBMany attempts have been made to understand the insurrection at the Capitol Building. But to fully grasp what happened January 6th, 2021, to see how Donald Trump incited a mob that temporarily stopped the counting of electoral votes, chief New York Times White House correspondent Peter Baker argues we must grapple with all four years of the Trump administration. He and co-author Susan Glasser argue January 6th was inevitable. Baker describes how Trump used the power of his office to pit cabin...
#100: A Celebration of History
October 11, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 52.5 MBWe made it to a hundred episodes! Our celebration features a discussion between four hobbyists who have taken their passion for history to a whole new level. Listen as host Evan Axelbank chats with Alicya Asai of the podcast "Civics and Coffee," Jeremy Anderberg of the newsletter "What to Read Next," and Steve Floyd of the website "Best Presidential Bios." We all explain why we love history and why we wanted to take our passion public! “Axelbank Reports History and Today” could not have ma...
#99: Cody Keenan: "Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America"
October 04, 2022 04:00 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBThe president of the United States stood at the podium, faced members of a Black church who had just lost nine parishioners in a racist attack, and offered comfort, not only with words, but with silence. After twelve seconds, Barack Obama sang the hymn that had been a comfort in moments of crisis for generations. Amazing Grace. In his new book, "Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America," former White House Chief Speechwriter Cody Keenan recounts how he and the president...
#98: Kostya Kennedy - "True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson"
September 20, 2022 04:00 - 58 minutes - 39.9 MBJackie Robinson's #42 is the only number retired across Major League Baseball, as his contributions to baseball and to American society can hardly be calculated. As Kostya Kennedy describes in his book, "True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson," he became a hero to generations of Americans thanks to his stoic, determined and thoughtful approach to dealing with the horrors of racial injustice. Kostya chose four key "seasons" that defined Robinson's life both on the field and off, and descri...
#97: James Kirchick - "Secret City"
September 13, 2022 04:00 - 57 minutes - 39.7 MBOn this episode, we talk with veteran journalist James Kirchick about his new book, "Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington." He explains how government officials who were gay became the focus of investigations, campaigns to out them, and even lost everything. He shows how Washington attracted gay men and women who hoped to serve their country, but who found that it was both the most dangerous place for them to be, but in some ways, the most liberating. He organizes his book chron...
#96: Leah Sottile - "When the Moon Turns to Blood"
August 23, 2022 04:00 - 50 minutes - 34.6 MBIn her new book, "When the Moon Turns to Blood: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell and a Story of Murder, Wild Faith and End Times," Leah Sottile describes how a history of belief in the supernatural can be deadly. Although the story of how Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell allegedly killed their children is not too far into the past, the history of religion, missing children and deception are front and center in the tale Sottile tells. An independent investigative reporter, Leah explains how she discover...
#95: Eric Jay Dolin - "Rebels at Sea"
August 16, 2022 04:00 - 51 minutes - 35.7 MBIn his book, "Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution," Dr. Eric Jay Dolin explains how a previously unheralded force, independent boat captains, played a crucial role in helping the colonists win the Revolutionary War. He explains how they captured British ships, upset shipping routes, upset their financial system and contributed to their weariness in fighting the patriots. He also shows how fighting at sea changed the dynamic of politics in the continental congress and why u...
#94: Justin Tinsley - "It Was All a Dream"
August 09, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 42 MBOn all our gravestones, there will be a date of birth, a dash, and a date of death. The dash (-) will represent the entirety of our lives. In his new book, "It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World that Made Him," Justin Tinsley argues that the life of Notorious BIG is important for every American to understand because "the world that made him" is the one that made all of us, but especially young, Black men. How did an exuberant drug dealer go from navigating the streets of Brooklyn to the t...
#93: Natalie Jacobson - "Natalie Jacobson Reporting"
August 02, 2022 04:00 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBWho ARE the newsmakers who we see on TV or the web? What makes them tick? Who are they when they aren't running for office, starring in Hollywood or battling criminals in court? In this episode, we talk with legendary Boston anchor Natalie Jacobson about the technique she used to document Boston's newsmakers over her four-decade career as a journalist. She explains how she realized that it was just as important to visit with political bigwigs in their homes as it was to cover their policy pr...
#92: Daniel Levy - "Manhattan Phoenix"
July 19, 2022 04:00 - 53 minutes - 36.7 MBIt has become cliche to say that the roots of modern New York City can be found in the 1970s. But in his book, "Manhattan Phoenix: The Great Fire of 1835 and the Emergence of Modern New York," Daniel Levy argues that the leveling of 700 buildings in lower Manhattan is truly the key moment. The fire devastated lower Manhattan, left thousands homeless or out of work and exposed several ways New York was being held back from becoming great. From improvements in firefighting to a public water sy...
#91: Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster - "Seen and Unseen"
July 12, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 42.4 MBIf George Floyd had been killed by police in almost any other era of American history, before we all carried high definition cameras in our pocket, there's a good chance the perpetrator would have escaped justice. In "Seen and Unseen: Technology, Social Media and the Fight for Racial Justice," BET news anchor Dr. Marc Lamont Hill and longtime reporter Todd Brewster explore how changing media has leveled the playing field between those who have power, and those who historically have not. Duri...
#90: Mark Arsenault - "The Imposter's War"
July 05, 2022 04:00 - 57 minutes - 39.6 MBDuring the 2016 presidential election, we got an up-close look at how a foreign nation can influence domestic politics. US intelligence has found that Russia worked to spread disinformation, poison social media and steal documents. But that was not the first time America has been manipulated by a foreign power. In the run up to World War I, Boston Globe "Spotlight" reporter Mark Arsenault explains how a reporter for a small newspaper broke numerous stories about supposed German efforts to ...
#89: Philip Dray - "A Lynching at Port Jervis"
June 21, 2022 04:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBLynching is often and understandably thought of as a southern problem. But Philip Dray's new book, "A Lynching at Port Jervis: Race and Reckoning in the Gilded Age," explores the only lynching that occurred in New York State between 1882 and 1899. He explains why northerners must come to grips with not only the violent incident that happened in the "idyllic" Delaware Water Gap village of Port Jervis, but with the racism that permeated many of the states that were first to outlaw slavery. He ...
#88: A.J. Baime - "White Lies"
June 14, 2022 04:00 - 53 minutes - 36.6 MBWhat does it mean to be white in America? What does it mean to be Black? Is it merely the color of our skin? How does the history of how different races have been treated by the law and by fellow Americans weigh on those labels? What would it be like to straddle both worlds? In "White Lies: The Double Life of Walter F. White and America's Darkest Secret," AJ Baime explains how an African-American man who looked white infiltrated the south to investigate lynchings and write reports for the ...
#87: Kate Clifford Larson - "Walk with Me"
June 07, 2022 04:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBWhere do rights come from? Do they come from the Constitution? The Supreme Court? From God? The voting booth? Bestselling author Dr. Kate Clifford Larson argues in her biography of Fannie Lou Hamer that rights also come from those willing to fight for them, from heroes who risk their lives while demanding the full promise of what America offers. Hamer was born a Mississippi sharecropper who would insist on the right to vote, speak at public hearings and - at times - face violence for her ef...
#86: Edward Renehan - "Deliberate Evil"
May 24, 2022 04:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBBefore the phrase, "the trial of the century," became a cliche, there was New England slave trader Joseph White and the greatest whodunit of the 19th Century. The wealthy, powerful and supremely disliked shipping magnate had apparently swam with too many sharks to escape justice forever. But who would go into a man's bedroom and kill him in his sleep? Edward Renehan's book, "Deliberate Evil: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Daniel Webster, and the 1830 Murder of a Salem Slave Trader," shows how the murd...
#85: Richard Cohen - "Making History"
May 17, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 44 MB"To study history, you must study the historian." Are the writers who make history also a part of history? Are the stories they tell what actually happened, or have we all been had? What motivates a historian to practice her craft? In "Making History: Storytellers Who Shaped the Past," veteran writer and publisher Richard Cohen explains how the earliest historians built their narratives and distributed their work. He goes era by era, highlighting the most impactful non-fiction writers of ...
#84: J.D. Dickey - "The Republic of Violence"
May 03, 2022 04:00 - 55 minutes - 38.3 MBThe end of slavery came thanks - in part - to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. At the Civil War's conclusion, the abolitionist movement had finally achieved its most sacred goal. But in, "The Republic of Violence: The Tormented Rise of Abolition in Andrew Jackson's America," JD Dickey argues that movement gained momentum decades before, during the 1830s, as abolitionists were violently confronted by the pro-slavery movement. In both north and south, Dickey argues white sup...
#83: A.K. Fielding - "Rough Diamond"
April 19, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 42 MBIn "Rough Diamond: The Life of Col. William Stephen Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton's Forgotten Son," A.K. Fielding explains why understanding his life is essential to understanding the first half of the nineteenth century. Though his dad gets the attention for being one of the most famous and influential people in American history, Fielding argues that by understanding the relatively "average" life of Hamilton's sixth child, we are able to grapple with migration patterns, the impact of the pow...
#82: Jeffrey Frank - "The Trials of Harry S. Truman"
April 12, 2022 04:00 - 53 minutes - 36.9 MBHarry Truman took over the presidency during a sea-change in American history. Along with becoming the first nuclear power, the US was about to begin a massive relief effort in Europe and grapple with racial injustice. Though he left office with low marks, during the last several decades, Truman's handling of the many crises he inherited has been applauded more loudly. Jeffrey Frank's new book, "The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man," explains how a s...
#81: Amanda Frost - "You Are Not American"
April 05, 2022 04:00 - 56 minutes - 38.6 MBThere are few scenes as emotional as when someone gains their citizenship. They often take place after long, painful journeys that determine whether someone has a right to hold a job, live near family or vote. But as Professor Amanda Frost explains, it is emotional for an entirely different reason when someone loses their citizenship, or as she puts it, has their citizenship, "stripped.” She argues that it happens much more often than people realize, and documents in her book, "You Are Not A...
#80: William Hazelgrove - "One Hundred and Sixty Minutes"
March 29, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 41.3 MBThe story of the most famous shipwreck in history, the Titanic, is not complete without Bill Hazelgrove's book, "One Hundred and Sixty Minutes: The Race to Save the RMS Titanic." The basics of the crash into the iceberg are well known. The heart-wrenching details of the half-full lifeboats and the frigid waters are enough to make anyone feel for the victims and their families. But Hazelgrove explains how they all could have been saved, and the missteps that led the nearby boats to shy away f...
#79: Neil Lanctot - "The Approaching Storm"
March 15, 2022 04:00 - 57 minutes - 39.7 MBTo understand how America became involved in World War I, we have to transport ourselves to a different America. Troops had never been sent overseas, progressivism was the primary political force and three presidents were battling to chart the nation's future. In Neil Lanctot's new book, "The Approaching Storm: Roosevelt, Wilson, Addams and their Clash Over America's Future," he explains how the life of Jane Addams intersected with that of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to bring the coun...
#78: Blake Scott Ball - "Charlie Brown's America"
March 08, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 41.5 MBWhat stories can comic strips tell in a way that nothing else can? Dr. Blake Scott Ball explains in his book, "Charlie Brown's America: The Popular Politics of Peanuts," how Charles Schultz famed comic strip not only reached Americans in a way few others have, but also told the country's story when his readers were least expecting it. Dr. Ball argues Schultz used Charlie Brown as a vehicle to take on the most sensitive topics of the second half of the twentieth century. From race, poverty, d...
#77: Meriel Schindler - "The Lost Cafe Schindler"
March 01, 2022 05:00 - 49 minutes - 34 MBTall tales are nothing new when it comes to family "history." Meriel Schindler's new book, "The Lost Cafe Schindler: One Family, Two Wars, and the Search for Truth," is her effort to determine the veracity of her dad's claims about their ancestors. Were the Schindlers really related to famed-Nazi foiler Oscar Schindler and a host of other artists, doctors and important people in western Europe? She focuses on a cafe her family owned in WWI-era Austria and finds it was the center of life in a...
#76: Megan Kate Nelson - "Saving Yellowstone"
February 22, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 41.4 MBIf you've been there, you'll never forget it. If you haven't, you probably want to go. But what makes Yellowstone National Park a destination in the first place? Dr. Megan Kate Nelson explores how one of America's crown jewels, the two million acres that make up the one-of-a-kind place, was preserved for all of us. In her new book, "Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America," she explains how the array of trees, geysers and animals was "discovered" by white m...
#75: Andrew Roberts - "The Last King of America"
February 01, 2022 05:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBWith his shining red, white and gold getup, The King walks on stage and sings a rhyming but pathetic number about how the American colonies just don't realize how good they have it living as subjects of Great Britain. "You'll be back, soon you'll see, you'll remember you belong to me... you'll remember that I served you well." The audience of the show, "Hamilton," is left with the impression that King George III was a misinformed, bumbling, bozo of a king, who passively let anti-crown s...
#74: Warren Milteer - "Beyond Slavery's Shadow"
January 25, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 35.1 MBFor this episode, lets look at slavery in another way. While we rightfully spend a lot of time on this show grappling with the impact of slavery both on the enslaved and on our society today, this week's show explores what it was like to be a free person of color in the South. Dr. Warren Milteer's book, "Beyond Slavery's Shadow: Free People of Color in the South," explains what it was like to live adjacent to those in bondage. He explains the threats they were under, how southern Blacks were...
#73: Kyle Harper - "Plagues Upon the Earth"
January 18, 2022 05:00 - 49 minutes - 33.9 MBFor the last two years, we have gotten a lesson in how our world can be shaped by a disease. COVID-19 has changed our families, the economy, our social interaction and our psychology. Far from being a unique historical phenomenon, Dr. Kyle Harper argues disease and our efforts to steer clear of them are the central forces that have always shaped human history. He explains how diseases have defined our history, and until relatively recently, they were almost always able to overcome what peop...
#72: Michael Holzman - "Spies and Traitors"
January 11, 2022 05:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBWho hasn't seen a spy movie that features a double agent who played their role so perfectly, even his best friends didn't know who he was working for? This is the real life story of how an MI6 agent played the role to a T. Kim Philby was an MI6 agent during World War II, who took a young American, Jim Angleton, under his wing. Their friendship may have been real, but Philby's life was a sham. Michael Holzman's book, "Spies and Traitors: Kim Philby, James Angleton and the Friendship and Be...
#71: Leah Price - "What We Talk About When We Talk About Books"
January 04, 2022 05:00 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBWhen we pick up a book, what exactly are we holding? Is it a living document or etched in stone? How closely do the words on the page mirror what is in the author's head? Why have they lasted so long, and how much longer WILL they last? Dr. Leah Price is a book historian and on this episode, she answers those questions, and wrestles with whether an audiobook or a digital file can be considered a book. Where did books come from, and why have they always been so satisfying to talk about? Dr. P...
#70: Peter Coleman - "The Way Out"
December 14, 2021 05:00 - 50 minutes - 34.4 MBAre you excited for big holiday gatherings where lots of politics are being discussed? No? Well Dr. Peter Coleman of Columbia University has just the solution for ending our polarized political culture, both at home and in the real world. His book, "The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization," offers numerous ways to approach our daily lives, the news, social media and our relationships to tone down the emotion and boost the parts of our brain that foster logical thinking. He also expla...
#69: Peter Bergen - "The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden"
December 07, 2021 05:00 - 58 minutes - 40.5 MBTwenty years after the worst terrorist attacks in US history, we speak with Peter Bergen, one of the foremost authorities on the threat the United States faces from fundamentalists. Bergen is a journalist for CNN who has interviewed Osama bin Laden and has now written a biography that catalogues "The Rise and Fall" of the terrorist who spearheaded the 9/11 attacks. Bergen argues that bin Laden's turn to terrorism was not pre-ordained, and that key events like the death of his father and the ...
#68: Amy Argetsinger - "There She Was"
November 30, 2021 05:00 - 50 minutes - 34.6 MBA bunch of women line up wearing next-to-nothing in hopes of impressing a batch of strangers who are grading them on everything from the way they look to the way they think. The woman with the highest score gets to be called, "Miss America," and wears a crown - and the title - for the rest of her life. The history behind that process, and how it became a cultural icon is as fascinating as it is filled with twists and turns. In this episode, Amy Argetsinger from the Washington Post drops by t...
#67: Patrick Lacroix - "JFK and the Politics of Faith"
November 23, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 43.1 MBWill an American president take orders from the Pope? As the devoutly catholic Joe Biden ran for president, he faced no such question. But sixty years before, when John F. Kennedy was running, it was not only a question, but a controversy. Listen to our episode with historian of religion in America, Dr. Patrick Lacroix, as he explains how JFK not only grappled with how to handle the question, but how his presidency helped quell those questions once and for all, at least for catholics. He als...
#66: Hadassah Lieberman - "Hadassah: An American Story"
November 16, 2021 05:00 - 54 minutes - 37.2 MBThat she came to within 537 votes of becoming Second Lady of the United States has been well documented, but Hadassah Lieberman says it's time for her to tell the story of the rest of her life. Listen in as she explains what it was like to be born into a family of those who survived the Holocaust, and those who did not. After immigrating to the United States when she was under a year old, the awful events of the 1940s gave way to a lifetime of hard work and of hope that those who come to Ame...
#65: Robert Levine - "The Failed Promise"
November 09, 2021 05:00 - 56 minutes - 38.7 MBThere are few periods in American history that offered more hope than Reconstruction. There are also few periods that left behind such devastation. On this episode, we talk with University of Maryland Distinguished Professor Dr. Robert Levine about his book, "The Failed Promise: Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass and the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson." He explains how Andrew Johnson went from a figure of hope to a villain of America's attempt at a rebirth. Dr. Levine explains how his roots a...
#64: Joseph J. Ellis - "The Cause"
November 02, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 41.8 MBOne of America's most prominent historians, Joseph J. Ellis, joins us to discuss his new book, "The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents." The author of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning, "Founding Brothers," focuses this time on how the Revolution was viewed by Black Americans, slaves, Natives and women as the colonists waged war in hopes of scurrying the British out of America. Is America's dual failure to banish slavery and find peace with Native Americans a Greek tragedy or ...
#63: Rebecca DeWolf - "Gendered Citizenship"
October 26, 2021 04:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBWhen women got the right to vote in 1920, the hope was that equal rights would be a natural byproduct. But in her book, "Gendered Citizenship: The Original Conflict over the Equal Rights Amendment, 1920-1963," Dr. Rebecca DeWolf explains how the ensuing fight for the Equal Rights Amendment left advocates frustrated, and women still clamoring for the right to earn a living, live independently, own a home and achieve political power. She explains how the first battles were waged through the co...
#62: Joshua Scacco - "The Ubiquitous Presidency"
October 19, 2021 04:00 - 50 minutes - 35 MBHardly a day goes by when the President of the United States isn't a topic of conversation. From TV and Twitter to baseball games and surprise breakfast stops, the person sitting in the nation's highest office has the power to get attention almost no matter what they're doing. And increasingly so, they have made an effort to use their platform to drive politics, policy and power in the United States. In their book, "The Ubiquitous Presidency: Presidential Communication and Digital Democracy ...
#61: Michael Bender - "Frankly, We Did Win This Election"
October 12, 2021 04:00 - 56 minutes - 38.8 MBThe President of the United States had been preparing for the moment for months, to claim he had won an election he actually lost. Early in the morning of November 4th, Donald Trump took to the TV cameras at the White House and said that despite early projections that Joe Biden had a chance to pull ahead in key states, he had indeed won reelection. With the now-famous phrase, "Frankly, we did win this election," Trump became the first president in history to claim that he had been victimized...
#60: Claude Clegg - "The Black President"
October 05, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 47.4 MBHow did Barack Obama shatter the quintessential barrier in American politics? Once he became the first Black president, did he help lower racial animosity, or did his presence incite an even-worse divide? In his new book, "The Black President: Hope and Fury in the Age of Obama," Dr. Claude Clegg explores how the 44th president left his mark on those of different races, along with the obstacles that sprouted to block his path. He is the only American president who could have created certai...
#59: Amy Russo - "Women of the White House"
September 21, 2021 04:00 - 49 minutes - 34.1 MBListen as we tag along with Providence Journal reporter Amy Russo as she takes us on a history of America's First Ladies, as told in her book, "Women of the White House: The Illustrated Story of the First Ladies of the United States of America." She explains how visual representations have become so important in how we understand our first families, and how vital the role of First Lady has been to the presidency and American culture. She also explains how the role has taken on added meaning ...
#58: Robert Strauss - "John Marshall: The Final Founder"
September 14, 2021 04:00 - 56 minutes - 39 MBOn this episode, we talk with longtime writer, journalist and professor Robert Strauss about his new book, "John Marshall: The Final Founder." Strauss argues that America's fourth chief justice, John Marshall, deserves to be on a short list with Benjamin Franklin and George Washington as the nation's most important founders. Strauss explains how Marshall made the Federal court system worthwhile, and how the Founding Era wasn't over until Marshall's imprint was felt everywhere. Strauss also u...