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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On December 25, 1776, George Washington and his men celebrated their first post-Declaration of Independence Christmas by crossing a freezing river to mount a surprise attack against their enemies. The plan worked, but almost 250 years later the story of Washington crossing the Delaware might surprise you too. In this episode, RTN favorite Bruce Carlson of My History Can Beat Up Your Politics joins Bob & Ben for a conversation about one of the US's most recognized, yet little-known battles and how it affected the course of the Revolutionary War.
If you enjoy this episode, check out My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, available anywhere you get The Road to Now. You can also hear Bruce in RTN Episode 85: The History of US-Mexican Relations w/ Bruce Carlson, recorded live from Avetts at the Beach in 2018.
This episode is an enhanced rebroadcast of episode #154 that includes additional primary source readings not included in the original episode. The rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.
Faith has played an important role in American history, but not always in the ways we'd expect.
In this episode, Andy Polk joins Bob and Ben to explain how politicians, advertising executives and public relations experts bypassed America's religious leaders, ignored theological debates, and dismissed historical evidence to fabricate and sell a story of America's religious origins that served their own political needs. That story remains with us today so, to quote the title of Andy's recent op-ed in The Tennessean: "When you hear 'In God We Trust', pay attention to what comes next."
Dr. Andrew R. Polk is Associate Professor of History at Middle Tennessee State University and the author of the new book, Faith In Freedom: Propaganda, Presidential Politics, and the Making of an American Religion (Cornell University Press, December 2021).
Get your hardback copy of Faith In Freedom directly from Cornell University Press and save 30% off the cover price with promo code 09Flyer! Click here for more information.
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
The stories we tell about ourselves help us make sense of the world. And while we all have stories as individuals, a set them within a shared narrative that is the foundation of our communities. In this episode, National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) CEO Tim Storey hosts Ben and storyteller Donna Washington in a conversation about the ways that stories work, why they have the power to unite us, and how they can also be used to divide us. They also reflect on the "American Story" and how new perspectives on our past help us to better understand who we are as a people and a country.
A special thanks to Tim Storey and everyone at NCSL for inviting Ben and Donna to return to NCSL's Legislative Summit, and to Donna Washington for sharing her wisdom with us and the crowd. We're also grateful to all those who attended the panel and took the time to speak with us afterward. You can read Lesley Kennedy's writeup of the panel on NCSL's blog here.
You can follow Donna Washington on twitter at @DLWStoryTeller, like her page on facebook, and find out more about her upcoming performances and work (including her new book Boo Stew) at her website- DonnaWashington.com.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is a non-partisan organization that represents the legislatures in the states, territories and commonwealths of the U.S. Its mission is to advance the effectiveness, independence and integrity of legislatures and to foster interstate cooperation and facilitate the exchange of information among legislatures. To learn more about NCSL and access their incredible set of online resources covering a wide variety of topics relating to state legislatures and local governments, visit their website: NCSL.org.
You can hear our first NCSL panel, recorded in 2019, featuring Ben, Donna and Bob in episode #138 by clicking here. Our conversation with NCSL's experts on legislative redistricting past and present, is also available in episode #212 Redistricting: A Primer w/ Wendy Underhill and Ben Williams.
This episode was recorded at NCSL's Legislative Summit in Tampa, Florida on November 5th, 2021 and edited by Ben Sawyer.
During a trip to Denver, Bob and Ben were fortunate enough to sit down with journalist and historian Dick Kreck at the historic Brown Palace hotel for a conversation about the history of the Wild West and the city of Denver, Colorado in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Before retiring in 2009, Dick spent four decades working as a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, The LA Times, and The Denver Post, and he has published numerous books on the history of Colorado and the west, including Murder at the Brown Palace: A True Story of Seduction and Betrayal (2003) and Hell on Wheels: Wicked Towns Along the Union Pacific Railway (2013).
This episode is a rebroadcast of RTN episode #7, which originally launched on June 23rd 2016. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.
Nora Guthrie, daughter of American icon Woody Guthrie, joins Ben & Bob to talk about her father's life and the many ways she's contributed to sharing his story. Nora discusses the inspiration for Woody's music, his connection to Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Leadbelly and other music icons, and why her new Woody Guthrie: Songs and Art • Words and Wisdom, which she co-curated with music historian Robert Santelli, presents her father as she'd like him to be remembered.
Nora Guthrie is President of Woody Guthrie Publications and founder of the Woody Guthrie Archive (1994).
Woody Guthrie: Songs and Art • Words and Wisdom (co-curated by Nora Guthrie & Robert Santelli) is a beautifully arranged "almanac" that features original handwritten lyrics, drawings, and photographs that document Woody Guthrie's life through his own words. The book also features insightful contributions by Douglas Brinkley, Roseann Cash, Chuck D, Jeff Daniels, Ani DiFranco and Arlo Guthrie. Click here to buy the book from the Guthrie Center and have your copy signed by Nora.
Additional Resources
The 2020 Presidential election was one of the most tumultuous in American history, and while Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump is settled, Trump's refusal to accept defeat has had implications that transcend his time in the oval office. In this episode, Bob and Ben speak with Robert Costa, whose new book Peril draws on his and co-author Bob Woodward's extensive investigation of the Biden and Trump campaigns and Trump's handling of executive power during his time in office. Robert explains how he finds and vets sources, his method of "deep background" interviews, and how he maintains journalistic disinterest in the face of intense partisan conflict. He also discusses what he learned about Trump and Biden as candidates and individuals and why he believes that the peril that characterized the Trump-Biden transition remains a source of concern more than a year after the 2020 election.
Robert Costa is a national political reporter at The Washington Post and political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. You can follow him on twitter at @CostaReports.
If you enjoyed this conversation, check out our previous conversation with Robert in RTN #130 Sources, Methods & Music w/ Robert Costa.
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
There is a lot at stake when congressional districts are redrawn every ten years, and the complexity of redistricting can make it hard for even well-informed citizens to understand the process. In this episode, we get a primer on redistricting's past and present from the same experts that our state legislators turn to when it's time to redraw their districts: Wendy Underhill and Ben Williams of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Wendy and Ben take us through the history of redistricting, why it became mandatory only in the 1960s, and how new information and technology shape the way we're represented in our state and federal governments.
To find out more about redistricting in your state, check out "Redistricting Systems: A 50 State Overview" from NCSL.
Wendy Underhill is Director of NCSL's Elections and Redistricting Program.
Ben Williams is a Policy Specialist in Elections and Redistricting at NCSL. You can follow him on twitter at @ElectionBen.
A special thanks to Tim Story for helping to arrange this conversation.
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher
Is the United States an empire? US citizens have struggled with this question for a long time. Though our historical narrative traces our origins to the war for independence against the British Empire, we often forget that the US has presided over territories since the very beginning. Today about 4 million people in the territories of American Samoa, the Northern Marinara Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands are subject to the US government, yet cannot vote for President and have only symbolic representation in congress. At the same time, the US maintains a global network of about 800 military bases in 80 countries.
For these reasons and more, Daniel Immerwahr says the United States is definitely an empire. In this episode, Daniel explains how this happened, the ways that US citizens have debated their country's role in the world, and how a country born of an anti-imperialist revolution became the thing it professed (and still professes) to despise. He also shares some fascinating stories about how the US military helped make The Beatles, why some people claimed John McCain was not eligible to be President, and how citizens of the United States of America began referring to their country as simply "America."
Daniel Immerwahr is Associate Professor of History at Northwestern University, and author of the book How To Hide An Empire: A History of the Greater United States (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2019). You can follow him on twitter at @dimmerwahr.
How To Hide An Empire is available on audiobook from libro.fm. Click here and use promo code RTN at checkout to get this book and two more for just $15!
This episode is a reair of RTN #134, which originally aired on July 1, 2019.
The original conversation was edited by Gary Fletcher. This reair was edited by Ben Sawyer.
In May of 1787, delegates from 12 states met in Philadelphia and began debating what would become the US Constitution. They published the document the following September and we've been arguing about it ever since.
As President & CEO of the The National Constitution Center, Jeffrey Rosen is responsible for fulfilling the center's mission to "disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a non-partisan basis in order to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people." In this episode, Jeffrey joins Bob & Ben for a discussion about the Constitution, the vital ways that amendments have changed the federal government, and how rulings by past courts may impact upcoming Supreme Court decisions. We also talk about how the NCC has worked to fulfill its congressional mandate, the exciting resources available through the Center, and the important role that non-partisan resources play in a democracy.
Jeffrey Rosen is also professor at The George Washington Law School, Contributing Editor at The Atlantic, and author of multiple books on US legal and political history including Conversations with RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty and Law (Henry Holt & Co., 2019) and William Howard Taft (Times Books, 2018). You can follow him on twitter at @RosenJeffrey.
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) -Educational Video Series
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!
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
The Miss America pageant has always had its critics, but the stories of the organization and those who participated in it are far more dynamic than most people recognize. In this episode, Bob & Ben speak with Amy Argetsinger whose new book There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America explains Miss America's origins, how the pageant both shaped and was shaped by American society, and why it might be okay that the pageant's significance in American culture has faded.
Bonus: Bob calls Miss USA "the confederacy of beauty pageants." Listen to find out why that makes sense!
Amy Argetsinger is an editor for The Washington Post's acclaimed Style section, where she has overseen coverage of media, popular culture, politics and society. Her new book There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America was published by Atria/One Signal Publishers in September of 2021. You can follow Amy on twitter at @AmyArgetsinger.
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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