Listening to America - TopPodcast.com

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

Listening to America — History
Listening to America

Listening to America aims to “light out for the territories,” traveling less visited byways and taking time to see this immense, extraordinary country with fresh eyes while listening to the many voices of America’s past, present, and future.

Led by noted historian and humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson, Listening to America travels the country’s less visited byways, from national parks and forests to historic sites to countless under-recognized rural and urban places. Through this exploration, Clay and team find and tell the overlooked historical and contemporary stories that shape America’s people and places. Visit our website at ltamerica.org.

Copyright: © 2023 The Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Latest Episodes:

#1457 A Poem from the Garden Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

Clay answers listener questions and discusses the photographer Edward Curtis, and David shares a bit of a poem sent to us by Jack Preston, a 94-year-old gardener.

You can order Clay's new book at Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, or by contacting your independent bookstore. The Language of Cottonwoods is out now through Koehler Books.

Mentioned on this episode: The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan, A live performance with WGN Radio's John Williams (more details to come), Repairing Jefferson's America, 2021 TR Symposium, Karl Bodmer, Scattered Corn

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1456 Written in Your Heart Aug 17, 2021

Show notes

Jefferson answers listener questions about his classification systems, and Monticello's gardens and water supply. Jefferson offers advice to a young woman who is trying to be a "good student of liberty." He tells her that "liberty is written in your heart."

You can order Clay's new book at Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, or by contacting your independent bookstore. The Language of Cottonwoods is out now through Koehler Books.

Mentioned on this episode: Virgil Online Course and Lewis and Clark Tours, books by Thomas Paine, including Common Sense, The American Crisis, The Age of Reason, and The Rights of Man, The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, Jefferson and His Time by Dumas Malone, Second Treatise of Government by John Locke, The Aeneid (Robert Fagles Translation) by Virgil, The Odes of Horace, Histories by Tacitus, History of Rome by Livy, History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, Histories by Herodotus, The Iliad by Homer, The Odyssey by Homer, Voltaire, Bolingbroke, David Hume,

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1455 Thomas Paine with Lindsay Chervinsky Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

Thomas Paine wrote a bestselling pamphlet, became derided by Americans for his alleged atheism, and was almost killed during the French Revolution. Lindsay Chervinsky joins us to discuss Paine's fascinating life.

You can order Clay's new book at Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, or by contacting your independent bookstore. The Language of Cottonwoods is out now through Koehler Books.

Mentioned on this episode: Thomas Paine and the Promise of America by Harvey Kaye; books by Thomas Paine, including Common Sense, The American Crisis, The Age of Reason, and The Rights of Man; David's audio book of Common Sense; The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison; and lindsaychervinsky.com

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1454 Peaceful Transition Aug 03, 2021

Show notes

This week, we're replaying a conversation from January 2018 about the peaceful transition of power in our American system of government. In this episode, Jefferson says that it's important to acknowledge that government power originates with the people, and not from any individual or party.

You can order Clay's new book at Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, or by contacting your independent bookstore. The Language of Cottonwoods is out now through Koehler Books.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1453 Fourth of July Questions Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

We welcome back the noted author and historian Joseph Ellis this week to join with Clay Jenkinson and respond to the many questions we received from listeners generated by our annual Independence Day show.

You can order Clay's new book at Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, or by contacting your independent bookstore. The Language of Cottonwoods is out now through Koehler Books.

Mentioned on this episode: Joseph Ellis: The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents, 1773-1783; Joseph Ellis: After the Revolution: Profiles of Early American Culture

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1452 Lewis and Clark Extras Jul 20, 2021

Show notes

Clay Jenkinson recently lead a conference for the Smithsonian that introduced attendees to the Lewis and Clark expedition. The lecture was brimming with questions, so many that there was not enough time to answer all of them. This week, we try to finish that task and answer those extra questions about Lewis and Clark.

You can order Clay's new book at Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, or by contacting your independent bookstore. The Language of Cottonwoods is out now through Koehler Books.

Mentioned on this episode: Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose, The Lewis and Clark Expedition Day by Day by Gary Moulton, A Vast and Open Plain: The Writings of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in North Dakota, 1804-1806 edited by Clay Jenkinson, The Character of Meriwether Lewis: Explorer in the Wilderness by Clay Jenkinson

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1451 Presidential Tech Jul 13, 2021

Show notes

We welcome back the scholar and author Lindsay Chervinsky to discuss her recent piece about Presidents and their technology. The conversation covers the use of social media now and then, and she and Clay Jenkinson rate which one the early founding fathers might have been good follows on Twitter.

You can order Clay's new book at Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, or by contacting your independent bookstore. The Language of Cottonwoods is out now through Koehler Books.

Mentioned on this episode: Dust Bowl Diary by Ann Marie Low, My Antonia by Willa Cather, The Bones of Plenty by Lois Phillips Hudson, Giants in the Earth by O. E. Rølvaag

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1450 In the Garden Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

Prompted by a listener request, we speak with President Jefferson about gardening and his love of plants. Thomas Jefferson once said, "No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, no culture comparable to that of the garden ... But though an old man, I am but a young gardener."

You can order Clay's new book at Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, or by contacting your independent bookstore. The Language of Cottonwoods is out now through Koehler Books.

Mentioned on this episode: Dust Bowl Diary by Ann Marie Low, My Antonia by Willa Cather, The Bones of Plenty by Lois Phillips Hudson, Giants in the Earth by O. E. Rølvaag

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1449 Second and Fourth Jun 29, 2021

Show notes

This week the annual Thomas Jefferson Hour Independence Day show with Clay Jenkinson and Joseph Ellis. Ellis makes the case that John Adams was right in his belief that Independence Day should be celebrated on July 2nd, the day congress voted on the matter, but both agree that due to the simultaneous deaths of Adams and Jefferson on July 4th, that date will forever stand. They also discuss parts of the Declaration of Independence which were removed and the great dangers accepted by the signers of the document.

You can order Clay's new book at Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, or by contacting your independent bookstore. The Language of Cottonwoods is out now through Koehler Books.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1448 American Narrative Jun 22, 2021

Show notes

This week, a discussion with President Thomas Jefferson about the American narrative. The conversation was prompted by an article in the Atlantic magazine by George Packer titled "How America Fractured into Four Parts." Jefferson shares his optimism about America's future and explains the fractured American narrative during his own time.

You can order Clay's new book at Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, or by contacting your independent bookstore. The Language of Cottonwoods is out now through Koehler Books.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog. Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our new merch. You can find Clay's publications on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Related Podcasts