Listening to America

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#1285 First Family (Part One) May 08, 2018

Show notes

Joining our conversation this week is the award-winning author Joseph Ellis. We discuss his book First Family: Abigail and John Adams in part one of two shows as our first entry for the Thomas Jefferson Hour Book Club series.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn about Clay's upcoming cultural tours and humanities retreats by visiting Odyssey Tours.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1284 Foreign Policy May 01, 2018

Show notes

"peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none"

— Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1801)

This week on the Jefferson Hour, we talk with President Jefferson about his struggles with foreign entanglements, and his disappointment with the American people's reactions to his decisions.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn about Clay's upcoming cultural tours and humanities retreats by visiting Odyssey Tours.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1283 The General Welfare Apr 24, 2018

Show notes

"I would never consider [the Constitution] to be a sacred text."

— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson

We present President Thomas Jefferson with a listener question about what the phrase "promote the general welfare," found in the Constitution, actually means.

We answer letters from Richard Tucker and Rich Nieves.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn about Clay's upcoming cultural tours and humanities retreats by visiting Odyssey Tours.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1282 The Map Apr 17, 2018

Show notes

We answer listener questions in response to episode #1277 Gerrymandering, and then turn to a discussion about an important discovery of an 1805 Lewis & Clark related map. It was found after being stored for 200 years in a French archive. The map and its background story appear in this month's issue of We Proceeded On, published by the Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation.

The letters discussed are from Stephen Mishkin, Joe Lovell, Kellen DeAlba, James Kenyon, and Sidney Sjoquist.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn about Clay's upcoming cultural tours and humanities retreats by visiting Odyssey Tours.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1281 Unanswered Questions Apr 10, 2018

Show notes

"History is like a picture puzzle and half of the pieces or more are missing. There is something about Jefferson that makes us want to expose contradiction."

— Clay S. Jenkinson

Our show this week revolves around a question from listener Gino Cukale about the purported relationship between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. We discuss the historical record and look to first-hand accounts in an attempt to answer this question.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn about Clay's upcoming cultural tours and humanities retreats by visiting Odyssey Tours.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1280 Tomatoes Apr 03, 2018

Show notes

"That is one of the most fun things that I try to do, reacquaint people with the joyous flavor of the tomato that they crave."

— Craig LeHoullier

Inspired by a letter from Alison Hagan, we talk with three tomato experts: Craig LeHoullier, author of Epic Tomatoes; Harry J. Klee, Ph.D. from the University of Florida; and Pat Brodowski, Head Gardener at Monticello. They speak about the best-tasting tomatoes, how to grow them, where to get seeds, why commercial varieties have lost their flavor, and how Jefferson is connected to all this.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn about Clay's upcoming cultural tours and humanities retreats by visiting Odyssey Tours.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1279 The Art of the Letter Mar 27, 2018

Show notes

"Every letter has a basis and a purpose … I spent an enormous amount of time thinking about the recipient."

— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson

We speak this week with President Jefferson about the art of letter writing. Prompted by a letter from a listener, Jefferson shares his insights on the process. The exact number of letters Jefferson wrote is not known, but it is safe to say he wrote in excess of 20,000.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn about Clay's upcoming cultural tours and humanities retreats by visiting Odyssey Tours.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1278 Adams, Bees and Guns Mar 20, 2018

Show notes

"I believe that we have the right to revolution."

— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson

President Jefferson answers listener questions about his relationship with John Adams, replacing the Constitution once every generation, bees at Monticello, and the Second Amendment.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn about Clay's upcoming cultural tours and humanities retreats by visiting Odyssey Tours.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1277 Gerrymandering Mar 13, 2018

Show notes

"You could redistrict so that you could maximize competitiveness. That would be my suggestion: maximize competitiveness."

— Clay S. Jenkinson

On this week's Thomas Jefferson Hour, we discuss gerrymandering, its origin, how it works in American politics today, and the potential effects it has on our democracy.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn about Clay's upcoming cultural tours and humanities retreats by visiting Odyssey Tours.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

#1276 Revolutionary Summer Mar 06, 2018

Show notes

"I feel an Awe upon my Mind, which is not easily described."

— John Adams

Clay and David discuss the book Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence, referred to as "a distinctive portrait of the crescendo moment in American history from the Pulitzer-winning American historian, Joseph Ellis." The book chronicles the events of the summer of 1776 as America's war for independence began, and how America was nearly defeated by the British.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn about Clay's upcoming cultural tours and humanities retreats by visiting Odyssey Tours.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

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