Stay ConnectedBob Crawford (The Avett Brothers) & Dr. Ben Sawyer (MTSU History) share conversations with great thinkers from a variety of backgrounds – historians, artists, legal scholars, political figures and more –who help us uncover the many roads that run between past and present.
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Would Kansas be admitted as a slave state? Would the US purchase Cuba from Spain (and perhaps admit it as another slave state)? And what could be done in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling in Dredd Scott vs. Sanford, that Congress could not regulate slavery in the territories? These questions make 1858 one of the most consequential midterm elections in American history, as well as a great place to kick off RTN's midterm election series.
In this 4-part series, Ben and Bob, along with a few special guests, will be looking at what they consider to be the most important midterm elections in American history. With the midterms of 2026 just around the corner, we hope these episodes will put things in context and convince you that midterm elections are just as, and sometimes more important, than the Presidential elections that only roll around every 4 years.
Sources referenced in this conversation:
-Joanne Freeman, The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018).
-James McPherson, Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction (McGraw-Hill, 2009).
-Heather Cox Richardson, To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party (Basic Books, 2014).
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
Hannah Arendt witnessed the rise of Nazism in Germany and her groundbreaking works, including The Origins of Totalitarianism, sought to understand how regular people could be seduced by horrendous ideologies such as antisemitism and fascism. In this episode, Ben speaks with documentarian Jeff Bieber, whose new film Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny, documents Adendt's life as an intellectual, refugee and, eventually, an American citizen whose concerns about power remain as relevant today as they were half a century ago.
Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny premiered on PBS on June 27 and is available to watch on pbs.org by clicking here.
For more on Jeff Bieber's work, check out his website: JeffBieberProductions.org.
This is a rebroadcast of episode 342, which originally aired on June 30, 2025. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
Catherine Grace Katz joins us to talk about her new book, Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War, and just how much the story of the ill-fated German Zepplin can tell us about the world in the years between World War I and World War II.
You can pre-order your copy of Shadow Before the Flame at Catherine's website, CatherineGraceKatz.com.
This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
George Carlin had a comedy career that spanned half a century, and his take on the US remains relevant more than a decade after his death in 2008. The HBO documentary George Carlin's American Dream tells Carlin's story as he evolved from a clean-cut comic in the 1950s into the edgy critic who remains one of the most influential comedians of all time. In this episode, Michael Bonfiglio, who directed the film (along with Judd Apatow) and Kliph Nesteroff, a historian of comedy who is featured in the film, join Bob & Ben for a conversation about the life and times of George Carlin.
If you enjoy this episode, check out our previous conversation w/ Michael in episode 174 Direction w/ Michael Bonfiglio.
This episode originally aired as RTN 237 on June 13, 2022. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.
North Carolina's Research Triangle has been a hub of innovation and economic growth for more than half a century, but the most remarkable invention in the area's history might be the park itself. In this episode, Mack Paul explains how residents of one of the poorest states in the union found a way to reimagine their future and transform the 'Old North State' into a global leader in scientific advancement.
Mack's new book, which he coauthored with his father, Allen, is Miracle Road: The Story of Research Park (Duke University Press, 2026. You can read excerpts from the book and order a copy at MiracleRoadBook.net.
If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out episode 136, in which we discuss Bob's MA thesis on the city of Apex, NC.
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
The inalienable right to "the pursuit of happiness" is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, but what exactly does that phrase mean? While Americans today may associate it with the right to own land, opulence or some other act of acquisition, many prominent founders understood it to mean something quite different. In this episode National Constitution Center President & CEO Jeffrey Rosen returns to the show to give us the full story and discuss his new book The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America.
If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out Jeffrey's other appearances on our show in episodes 211 and 350.
Highlighted Resources from the National Constitution Center
–The Interactive Constitution (also available as an app in the apple and android app stores)
–We The People with Jeffrey Rosen podcast (available anywhere you get The Road to Now)
If you're in Philadelphia, you can visit the National Constitution Center, which is located just steps from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Click here to plan your visit!
Thie conversation originally aired on February 5, 2024 as episode 295. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.
Ben & Bob catch up for a conversation about bad Ai textooks, new discoveries about precolonial American societies and a new take on the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
Make sure to catch Bob at his endless book tour for America's Founding Son! Dates available by following him on Instagram at @bobcrawfordbass.
Sources discussed in this episode:
· John Green, Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of our Deadliest Infection, (Penguin, 2025).
· Pärssinen, M., Kalliola, R., Ranzi, A. et al. "Over 20,000 precolonial earthworks in the Southwest Amazonia."Nature (2026).
· Robert Sapolsky Behave: The Biology of Humans at our Best and Worst (Penguin, 2017).
· Adi Schane, "'Venecky' instead of Kentucky," WDRB.com, July 29, 2026.
This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
Ben & Bob talk about the history of the US Senate and why the august body is now under attack from both the Freedom Caucus and the Democratic Socialists of America.
For readings discussed in this episode, check out Michael Trotti's "The Troubling Roots of Off-Year Gubernatorial Elections" from Made By History (Oct. 29, 2025) and Article 5 of the US Constitution, which states: "The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate."
This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
In an era of cynicism towards politics, Lindsey Cormak wants you to focus on what government has gotten right and to raise your kids to be active citizens. And as the host of the new podcast Government That Doesn't Suck (alongside History That Doesn't Suck's Greg Jackson), and the author How to Raise a Citizen (And Why It's Up to You To Do It), she has evidence and a framework for how to get there. In this conversation we cover all this, as well as Lindsey's research on Veterans and her work to document political rhetoric via congressional emails at DCInbox.com.
Dr. Lindsey Cormack is Associate Professor of Political Science at Stevens Institute of Technology. Click here to follow her on substack.
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
Kathryn Olivarius joins Bob & Ben to explain the powerful role that Yellow Fever played in shaping all aspects of life in New Orleans during the 19th Century. Kathryn is Associate Professor of History at Stanford University and the author of Necropolis: Disease, Power & Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom, (Harvard University Press, 2022). She was also a 2024 recipient of the Dan David Prize.
This is a rebroadcast of #329, which originally aired on March 10, 2025. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
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