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Harvey Mansfield, "Where Harvard Went Wrong" May 12, 2026

Show notes

Harvey Mansfield arrived as an undergrad at Harvard in 1949, 77 years ago. He hardly left the university until he retired as research professor in 2023. Professor Mansfield, at age 94, is still writing. Encounter Books has just published a 136-page book by him titled "Where Harvard Went Wrong." Prof. Mansfield says he's one of the conservative faculty members of his university, one of three. His book contains speeches and essays, covering over 50 years, aimed at his students and colleagues. Mansfield's plea has always been that Harvard abandon, in his words, its "partisanship with the left and adopt instead a bipartisanship that welcomes conservatives as well as liberals."

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Q&A: Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch Discusses Heroes of 1776 May 11, 2026

Show notes

From the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Neil Gorsuch discusses his children's book, "Heroes of 1776," about the signers of the Declaration of Independence and other, lesser known, revolutionaries who put their life, liberty, and property on the line to gain independence from the British.

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ABC: Heather Cox Richardson on Democracy, the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War May 10, 2026

Show notes

Bestselling historian, podcaster, and newsletter author Heather Cox Richardson joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss democracy and her books on the Revolutionary War and Civil War.

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AW: Reimagining Western Mental Health Care May 10, 2026

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Physician and anthropologist Khameer Kidia argues that Western mental health care treats the symptoms instead of the causes of mental illness. Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C., hosts this event.

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Bruce Nichols, "The Emerson Circle" May 05, 2026

Show notes

During his almost 40-year career in publishing, Bruce Nichols served as publisher of both Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Little Brown & Company. His book is titled "The Emerson Circle: The Concord Radicals Who Reinvented the World." The focus of the book is on famous names, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller, Louisa May Alcott and Henry David Thoreau. Author Nichols says "The Emerson Circle" is the story of this small group and the movements it inspired. He says it's not a comprehensive group biography. He suggests there are wonderful books about each member that go into far more detail. Bruce Nichols suggests their collective work represents a crucial cultural moment in American history.

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Q&A: Historian & Biographer Robert Caro May 04, 2026

Show notes

This week on Q&A, it's a rare interview with one of America's leading historians. We tour the New York City office and home library of Pulitzer Prize-winning bestselling biographer Robert Caro, who is currently working on the final volume of his 5-volume biography of Lyndon Johnson. During the tour, Mr. Caro talks about his research and writing process on the LBJ series, and the impact of "The Power Broker," his bestselling 1974 biography of NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses.

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ABC: Douglas Brinkley on America at 250, D-Day, and the Space Race May 03, 2026

Show notes

Bestselling author and historian Douglas Brinkley joins David M. Rubenstein in the Capitol's Kennedy Caucus Room to discuss America's 250th anniversary and his books about Walter Cronkite, the space race, Hurricane Katrina and D-Day.

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The 1990s Golden Era of Black Sitcoms May 03, 2026

Show notes

PBS Newshour co-anchor Geoff Bennett talks about the history of Black comedy in America and its impact on culture and politics.

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Craig Fehrman, "This Vast Enterprise" Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

Author Craig Fehrman has written a new history of the expedition of Lewis and Clark. It's called "This Vast Enterprise." In the prologue to his 515-page book, Fehrman writes: "After departing from near St. Louis on May 14, 1804, the Corps of Discovery traveled 8,000 miles to find 'the most direct and practicable water communication across the continent for the purpose of commerce.'" The Corps was Jefferson's idea. Craig Fairman continues: "When Lewis and Clark returned more than two years later, they did not have a Northwest Passage, but they did have an incredible tale…" This is Mr. Fehrman's third book.

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Q&A: Jean Becker & Tom Collamore, "Don't Tell the President" Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

Jean Becker and Tom Collamore, former staffers to President George H.W. Bush, discuss the work done by advance teams for presidential events, including foreign trips, state visits, and campaign rallies. They share behind-the-scenes stories of success, near disaster, and failure, told by the professionals who prepared for these events over the past 60 years.

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