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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The world we live in today has Dwight Eisenhower's fingerprints all over it. When Dwight Eisenhower gave his farewell address on January 17, 1960, he warned the American people of the growing influence of a "military-industrial complex." What few people remember is that it was Eisenhower who oversaw the transformation of the American military into the large-scale force that spans the globe. "Ike" also helped facilitate the ceasefire in Korea that remains in place over six decades later, and his administration's use of the CIA and covert operations to install regimes friendly to US interests continues to haunt America's foreign relations with countries such as Iran today. In this episode, Bob & Ben speak with the University of Virginia's William Hitchcock to talk about Dwight Eisenhower and the ways his eight years in the Oval Office can still be felt more than half a century later. Along the way, we discuss how Eisenhower's experience as a General during World War II shaped his world view, and where Eisenhower fits within the history of the Republican Party and the greater history of American Presidents.
Dr. William Hitchcock is Professor of History at the University of Virginia and the Randolph P. Compton Professor at UVa's Miller Center. He is the author of six books, the most recent of which The Age of Eisenhower: American and the World in the 1950s was published by Simon & Schuster in March of 2018.
The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this episode and all others, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com.
The world we live in today has Dwight Eisenhower's fingerprints all over it. When Dwight Eisenhower gave his farewell address on January 17, 1960, he warned the American people of the growing influence of a "military-industrial complex." What few people remember is that it was Eisenhower who oversaw the transformation of the American military into the large-scale force that spans the globe. "Ike" also helped facilitate the ceasefire in Korea that remains in place over six decades later, and his administration's use of the CIA and covert operations to install regimes friendly to US interests continues to haunt America's foreign relations with countries such as Iran today. In this episode, Bob & Ben speak with the University of Virginia's William Hitchcock to talk about Dwight Eisenhower and the ways his eight years in the Oval Office can still be felt more than half a century later. Along the way, we discuss how Eisenhower's experience as a General during World War II shaped his world view, and where Eisenhower fits within the history of the Republican Party and the greater history of American Presidents.
Dr. William Hitchcock is Professor of History at the University of Virginia and the Randolph P. Compton Professor at UVa's Miller Center. He is the author of six books, the most recent of which The Age of Eisenhower: American and the World in the 1950s was published by Simon & Schuster in March of 2018.
The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this episode and all others, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com.
In this episode of The Road to Now, recorded live at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service, Governor Martin O'Malley join Bob & Ben for a conversation about history, music and politics. We discuss the history of immigration, how Gov. O'Malley's Catholic faith influenced his political views, and Gov. O'Malley shares (and plays) some of the songs that have had the strongest impact on his life.
Martin O'Malley has served as Governor of Maryland (2007-2015), Mayor of Baltimore (1999-2007) and Maryland City Councilman (1991-1999).
This episode was recorded live on October 27, 2016 at Georgetown University. Special thanks to Mo Elleithee and everyone at the Institute of Politics and Public Service for supporting this event and for all the hospitality they showed us during our visit.
The Road to Now is a member of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this and all other episodes of our podcast, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com.
For the third installment of our Music May series, Ben caught up with Tyler Mahan Coe whose podcast Cocaine & Rhinestones dives into some of the most famous stories in the history of country music. As a musician and son of country legend David Allan Coe, Tyler's own history is part of that story, but his ability to take the best of his own experiences while remaining objective in the subjects he covers is outstanding. Tyler talks about the calling that drove him to make Cocaine & Rhinestones, the methodology he developed to cover the history of country music in a podcast, and why he thinks most people don't have the story right when it comes to Merle Haggard's Okie from Muskogee.
A special shout out to Dr. Kelly Kolar for recommending Tyler as a guest for our music series and for joining us for the interview.
The Road to Now is a member of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this episode, check out our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com.
For the third installment of our Music May series, Ben caught up with Tyler Mahan Coe whose podcast Cocaine & Rhinestones dives into some of the most famous stories in the history of country music. As a musician and son of country legend David Allan Coe, Tyler's own history is part of that story, but his ability to take the best of his own experiences while remaining objective in the subjects he covers is outstanding. Tyler talks about the calling that drove him to make Cocaine & Rhinestones, the methodology he developed to cover the history of country music in a podcast, and why he thinks most people don't have the story right when it comes to Merle Haggard's Okie from Muskogee.
A special shout out to Dr. Kelly Kolar for recommending Tyler as a guest for our music series and for joining us for the interview.
The Road to Now is a member of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this episode, check out our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com.
You may have heard Tom Marshall's words even if you've never heard him speak. For the last four decades Tom has been the chief lyricist for the band Phish, which is one of the most successful touring bands in the world. Tom, however, does not tour with the band, and his position as the mysterious wordsmith for the band has spawned several online myths about Tom's origins and his life accomplishments outside of Phish. In this episode, We talk with Phish lyricist Tom Marshall to learn about the history of Phish, his friendship with Trey Anastasio, and the life experiences that inspired the lyrics for some of the band's most well-known songs. We also set the record straight about Tom's life, discuss his podcast Under the Scales and talk about Bob & Ben's collaboration w/ Tom through the Osiris Podcast Network.
Today's music is by Tom Marshall's band Amphibian.
The Road to Now is a member of the Osiris Podcast Network. Learn more about this episode and others at our website: www.The RoadToNow.com.
Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" is one of the well-known tunes in the United States, but the song, and the man who wrote it, are far more complex and fascinating than most folks realize. Born in Oklahoma in 1912, Woody moved west during the Dust Bowl of the mid-1930s and witnessed first-hand the tragedy that was the Great Depression. A self-proclaimed "common-ist," Woody dedicated his life to documenting the experiences of his generation and using his platform as a nationally-recognized musician to advocate for the common working American. In today's episode of The Road to Now, Bob & Ben speak with Woody Guthrie Center Executive Director Deana McCloud to learn more about the experiences that shaped Woody Guthrie and the legacy he left for those of us today.
This episode was recorded at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, OK. If you're ever in the area, we highly recommend you take the time to visit. Check out the video of our visit to the Guthrie Center by clicking here.
The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this episode and others, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com
Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" is one of the well-known tunes in the United States, but the song, and the man who wrote it, are far more complex and fascinating than most folks realize. Born in Oklahoma in 1912, Woody moved west during the Dust Bowl of the mid-1930s and witnessed first-hand the tragedy that was the Great Depression. A self-proclaimed "common-ist," Woody dedicated his life to documenting the experiences of his generation and using his platform as a nationally-recognized musician to advocate for the common working American. In today's episode of The Road to Now, Bob & Ben speak with Woody Guthrie Center Executive Director Deana McCloud to learn more about the experiences that shaped Woody Guthrie and the legacy he left for those of us today.
This episode was recorded at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, OK. If you're ever in the area, we highly recommend you take the time to visit. Check out the video of our visit to the Guthrie Center by clicking here.
The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this episode and others, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com
On The Road to Now, we talk a lot about how understanding history is essential to making informed political decisions. In today's episode, Patricia O'Toole joins us to talk about what happened when a historian got control of the White House.
O'Toole's new biography The Moralist: Woodrow Wilson and the World He Made (Simon & Schuster, 2018) examines the life of a President whose policy was guided by his personal sense of morality. From today's perspective, Woodrow Wilson's time in the White House (1913-1921) seems full of contradictions. He supported a constitutional amendment to ensure women's suffrage, but oversaw the re-segregation of America's civil service. He championed national self-determination for the people of Europe, but readily deployed US soldiers to intervene in Latin America. And he won re-election with the slogan "He Kept Us Out Of War," yet called for America's entry into World War I just a little over a month after his second inauguration. In spite of this, O'Toole says that a close examination of Wilson's thought and policy reveals a consistent world view that binds these seemingly contradictory actions together.
Patricia O'Toole is the author of five books, including The Five of Hearts: An Intimate Portrait of Henry Adams (Simon & Schuster, 2006), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She previously taught in the School of the Arts at Columbia University was a fellow of the Society of American Historians. Her new biography of Woodrow Wilson The Moralist was released on April 24, 2018.
The Road to Now is a member of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this episode and others, visit our website www.TheRoadToNow.com
In episode 53, we spoke with Sean Foley about Syria and the historic forces at work in the Syrian Civil War. A lot has changed since we first spoke with Sean in April of 2017, so we asked him to come back to catch us up on the Syrian Civil War, where Isis, Assad and other players currently stand, and the implications of Donald Trump's sudden reversal on American intervention in the conflict.
The live map of Syria that Sean mentions in this episode can be found at https://syria.liveuamap.com/
Check out the Road to Now #53 for an in-depth history of Syria and the Middle East.
Dr. Sean Foley is an Associate Professor of History at Middle Tennessee State University, where he specializes in the contemporary history and politics of the Middle East and the wider Islamic world. You can learn more about Dr. Foley on his personal website and his MTSU profile page.
The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on this and all other episodes of our podcast, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com.
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