With the Bark Off: Conversations on the American Presidency

"Dewey Defeats Truman" A conversation about the election of 1948 with A.J. Baime Mar 07, 2024

New York Times bestselling author A.J. Baime joined us to discuss the famous outcome of the election of 1948. Baime is the author of The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months that Changed the World (2017), The Arsenal of Democracy: FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War (2014), Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans (2009), and Dewey Defeats Truman: The 1948 Election and the Battle for America's Soul (2019).

Baime is a longtime regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and numerous other publications.

Previewing the 2024 Presidential Election with Richard Hasen & Joshua Sellers Jan 18, 2024

Last month, Mark Updegrove moderated a discussion at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, at Rice University, entitled "A presidential election with legal issues like no other." There, he interviewed two legal experts about the legal challenges faced by the GOP's leading presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, one of the many unprecedented aspects of our presidential election later this year. Richard L. Hasen is Professor of Law and Political Science at UCLA and the Director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project. And Joshua Sellers is Professor of Law at the University of Texas at Austin.

A Conversation With Secretary Robert Gates Nov 30, 2023

Robert Gates served in public life for over 50 years. He began his career as an entry-level CIA analyst and would rise the ranks to become director of the agency from 1991-93. In 2006, he was named Secretary of Defense by President George W. Bush as our nation waged war in Afghanistan and Iraq. He would retain the position for President Barack Obama until 2011, making him the only Secretary of Defense asked by a newly elected President to remain in the office.

Secretary Gates is the author of a number of bestselling books, including A Passion for Leadership and his memoir, Duty, and has served as President of Texas A&M and currently holds the position of Chancellor of the College of William & Mary. Mark Updegrove talked to him recently before a full house at the LBJ Library, where he offered his reflections on an increasingly chaotic world, including the Israel-Hamas War, the War in Ukraine, the security threats posed by an increasingly aggressive China, and the struggles we face here at home

A Conversation with Heather Cox Richardson Oct 26, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson is professor of history at Boston College, and author of six major books about US history in the 19th Century. Among her best-known works are To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party, and How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America.

In the past few years, Richardson has also become one of the most influential voices in American public life. Almost 2 million subscribers receive Letters From An American, a daily newsletter than delves into the historical context of the latest national and international news.

Her new book, Democracy Awakening, similarly sets current political controversies within the long sweep of American history. She joined us at the LBJ Library for a discussion on the book, and how she views our current political moment.

A Conversation with Jake Tapper Oct 13, 2023

Jake Tapper is the chief Washington anchor for CNN, whose shows “The Lead with Jake Tapper” and “State of the Union” are fixtures of broadcast news.

Tapper has been covering politics in Washington for over 25 years--from the Clinton Administration through the Biden Administration. He’s also a best-selling author of five books, three of which are works of fiction, including his latest, All the Demons Are Here. During a recent visit to the LBJ Library to promote the book, Jake talked to Mark Updegrove about his reflections on the state of our democracy, the media landscape, President Joe Biden, and Biden’s presumptive Republican challenger in next year’s presidential election: former President Donald Trump.

"He becomes a genuine believer" A conversation about Abraham Lincoln with Josh Zeitz Sep 28, 2023

President Lincoln is perhaps the most analyzed and studied of all America's 46 presidents, the subject of numerous outstanding biographies. Yet some aspects of his life remain difficult to fathom, not least his religious views.

In his new book, Lincoln's God, Josh Zeitz teases out Lincoln's complicated religious outlook, and makes clear just how important religion was to the course, and the outcome, of the Civil War.

Josh Zeitz writes for Politico, and has also been published in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The New Republic. He is also the author of several books, including Building a Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson's White House; Lincoln's Boys: John Hay, John Nicolay, and the War for Lincon's Image; and now, Lincoln's God: How Faith Transformed a President and a Nation.

"A key moment of our civil rights narrative that's never gotten its due" A conversation about Hubert Humphrey with Samuel Freedman Sep 14, 2023

Samuel Freedman is a Professor at Columbia University and the award-winning author of ten books. In Into the Bright Sunshine he looks at the life of Hubert Humphrey, who would become Senator from Minnesota, Vice President to Lyndon Johnson, and the Democratic presidential nominee in 1968, who lost his bid for the presidency to Richard Nixon by less than one percentage point.

But it’s Humphrey’s early years that Samuel Freedman covers in his book, chronicling Humphrey’s humble beginnings in smalltown South Dakota and his move to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Humphrey launched an activist political career that helped to change the trajectory of civil rights in America.

"A pathologically reasonable person in power" A Conversation about President Garfield with C.W. Goodyear Aug 31, 2023

C.W. Goodyear is a writer and historian based in Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, he published his first book, President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier, which has earned effusive praise for meticulous research and eloquent writing about a president who has often flow under the radar.

Goodyear shines a light on James Garfield’s presidency but also dwells on his earlier career as a teacher, Ohio politician, Union general during the Civil War, and ultimately powerful member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Garfield participated in many of the most contentious debates of the period after the Civil War.

Best of With the Bark Off 2023 (Part 1) Aug 17, 2023

Late last year we did a “best of” year-end podcast that focused on top moments from With the Bark Off. It was no easy task to choose those moments given the sheer volume of great material we had to draw from, but it was fun and proved to be very popular among our listeners. We decided to make this a biannual thing to reflect on those moments that stood out to us in the last six months.

In this episode you will find vignettes on Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Edith Wilson, Jackie Kennedy, J. Edgar Hoover, and Joe Biden.

"Like all great leaders, he's learning and changing" A Conversation about MLK Jr. With Jonathan Eig (Pt 2) Aug 03, 2023

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a giant of American history, a figure celebrated in classrooms and public discourse for his towering contributions to the struggle for civil rights. And yet Jonathan Eig's biography, King: A Life, rooted in abundant newly available sources, is the first full-fledged study of King to be published in decades.

Eig joins us for an enlightening conversation about King’s life and legacy. This is the second of a two-part conversation; the first conversation was released on July 20, 2023.

"King had the perfect voice and message for the moment" A Conversation with Jonathan Eig about MLK (Part 1) Jul 20, 2023

Jonathan Eig is a highly accomplished journalist and author. His bestselling biography of the boxer Muhammad Ali, entitled Ali: A Life, won the PEN America Literary Award and was the basis for a PBS series about Ali's life and times. Eig is also author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig.

Eig joins us for an enlightening conversation about Martin Luther King Jr’s life and legacy. This is the first of a two-part conversation; the second conversation will be released on August 3, 2023.

"Bush never insisted on a careful assessment" A conversation with Melvyn Leffler about the Iraq War Jul 06, 2023

Melvyn Leffler is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Virginia and one of the world’s leading scholars of U.S. foreign relations. His many award-winning books include For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, The Soviet Union, and the Cold War and A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War. His most recent book is Confronting Saddam Hussein, about the decisions that led America to war in Iraq in 2003.

"Jackie wanted a larger life" A conversation about Jackie Bouvier Kennedy with Carl Sferrazza Anthony Jun 22, 2023

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy remains one of the most fascinating figures of the 20th century - an iconic First Lady who brought elegance, sophistication, and a cultivated cultural sensibility to the White House. But her formative early adult years provide a glimpse into a headstrong, confident young woman of great intelligence and ambition trying to find her way in the world.

Carl Sferrazza Anthony, author of a new book, Camera Girl: The Coming of Age of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy, offers a compelling look at the future First Lady in her years as an adventurous college student, as the Washington Times-Herald’s inquiring camera girl, and as a vibrant single woman who had come to date and eventually marry the dashing U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy.

Anthony is the author of a dozen books about presidents’ wives and families, including As We Remember Her: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the Words of Her Friends and Family, The Kennedy White House: Family Life & Pictures, 1961-1963 and the two-volume First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents’ Wives and Their Power, 1789-1990.

"Nixon and Kissinger thought they would succeed" A Conversation about Peacemaking in Vietnam With Lien-Hang T. Nguyen Jun 08, 2023

Dr. Lien-Hang Nguyen is the Dorothy Borg Associate Professor of History at Columbia University. Besides Hanoi’s War, Dr. Nguyen is co-editor of The Cambridge History of the Vietnam War. She’s now writing a definitive history of the Tet Offensive, the communist attacks in 1968 that changed the course of the war for the United States.

"Consequences for the nation had to take a back seat" A Conversation with Rebecca Boggs Roberts About Edith Wilson May 25, 2023

Rebecca Boggs Roberts is an award-winning educator and historian who has written extensively about women’s history and the women’s suffrage movement. Her books include The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World and Suffragists in Washington, DC: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote.

She recently published Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson, a richly detailed biography of a woman who has eluded careful study despite the fact that she played a vital role in one of the most consequential presidencies of the 20th century.

"If you want to valorize Reagan, look at the convictions he held" A conversation with Will Inboden May 11, 2023

Dr. William Inboden is a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and Executive Director of the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas at Austin. His new biography of Reagan, The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan in the White House and the World, was published in November 2022 and named as one of the top political books of the year by The Wall Street Journal.

Inboden was a policymaker in the George W. Bush administration before coming to UT Austin to teach U.S. national security policy and global affairs. His essays and op-eds have appeared in publications such as Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, and CNN.

"He finds himself in a job he never wanted" A Conversation about Gerald Ford with Richard Norton Smith Apr 27, 2023

Richard Norton Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated historian and the author of numerous books, including On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller, and Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation. Throughout his career, he has been the director of five presidential libraries, those of Abraham Lincoln, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and, in keeping with today’s subject, Gerald Ford.

Richard joined Mark Updegrove to discuss his newest book, An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford.

"I find it hard to believe JFK would have walked out" A conversation with Marc Selverstone about JFK, LBJ and escalation in Vietnam Apr 13, 2023

Marc J. Selverstone is Associate Professor in Presidential Studies at the Miller Center for Public Affairs at The University of Virginia and Chair of the Center’s renowned Presidential Recordings Program, which has made available thousands of hours of audio from presidents stretching from Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon.

Selverstone is the award-winning author of The Kennedy Withdrawal: Camelot and the American Commitment to Vietnam and Constructing the Monolith: The United States, Great Britain, and International Communism, 1945-1950.

A Conversation About Presidential Funerals and Mourning with Lindsay Chervinsky and Matthew Costello Mar 30, 2023

Lindsay Chervinsky is a presidential historian and author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution. Matthew Costello is the Vice President of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History and author of The Property of the Nation: George Washington’s Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and Dr. Matthew Costello co-authored Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture, a new book which examines the way we observe the passing of our chief executives as a means of reflection, reckoning, and reevaluation of presidential legacies and eras in our nation’s past

"Confederates were hoping against hope the North would be divided” A conversation about peacemaking after the Civil War with Elizabeth Varon Mar 16, 2023

Elizabeth Varon is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia and Associate Director of the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History. Among her many books are Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War, Disunion!: The Coming of the American Civil War, and Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War.

More than 150 years after the Civil War ended, the United States is still battling over the meaning of the war. Liz Varon shows how those debates got started even as the smoke was clearing from the final battles.

"History has become extremely politicized" A conversation about American political myths with Julian Zelizer Mar 02, 2023

Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is also a contributor to CNN, and the author of numerous books including “The Fierce Urgency of Now,” and “Burning Down the House.”

His new bestselling book, which he edited with Kevin Kruse, is entitled “Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past,” and is comprised of essays that take aim at many of the distortions and manipulations of our history that have led many Americans to believe fiction over fact.

We talked to Julian about the myths and legends that have shaped American consciousness, how they arose, and why they need to be dispelled in order for us to get a truer sense of who we are as a nation.

"Wilson sees no course compatible with American honor to keep the US out of war" A Conversation with Charlie Laderman About Woodrow Wilson Feb 16, 2023

Professor Laderman is a prolific historian of international affairs based in the War Studies Department at King’s College London. His books include Sharing the Burden: The Armenian Question, Humanitarian Intervention, and Anglo-American Visions of Global Order as well as Hitler’s American Gamble: Pearl Harbor and Germany’s March to Global War. Laderman has also written for the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and The Washington Post and has worked as a commentator for the BBC.

"LBJ thought he could use Hoover as a political tool" A conversation with Bev Gage about J. Edgar Hoover Feb 02, 2023

Beverly Gage is a professor of History at Yale University. She is also the author of The Day Wall Street Exploded and has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post.

In G-Man, Gage covers the full sweep of Hoover’s life, from his birth in 1895 to his death in 1972, offering a nuanced portrait of a complicated man who took the helm of the FBI before the age of 30, and would go on to become a confidante, and often a nemesis, to 8 presidents—from Warren Harding to Richard Nixon.

"The Biden presidency is a political thriller" A Conversation with Chris Whipple Jan 19, 2023

Chris Whipple is an author and Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. He appears frequently as a political analyst on MSNBC, CNN, and NPR, and his previous books include The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency and The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future.

"He is a master divider who fit the times" A Conversation with Peter Baker & Susan Glasser About Donald Trump and Covering the White House Jan 05, 2023

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, a political analyst for MSNBC, and the author of several books on the presidency, including Days of Fire and The Breach. Susan Glasser is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a CNN global affairs analyst. Their first assignment as a married couple was as Moscow bureau chiefs for The Washington Post, after which they wrote Kremlin Rising. They also co-authored The Man Who Ran Washington, a New York Times bestseller.

The Divider is, at least for the moment, the definitive account of the Trump presidency. Sweeping across four years of nearly constant crisis and controversy, the book examines one of America's most enigmatic presidencies, which included two impeachments, dramatic international events, a constantly shifting array of advisers, and the insurrection of January 6, 2021.

This conversation took place on December 13, 2022, at the LBJ Presidential Library.

Best of "With the Bark Off" 2022 Dec 22, 2022

Hosts Mark Lawrence and Mark Updegrove look back on 10 of their favorite "With the Bark Off" moments from an incredible year.

Featured guests:

Amity Shlaes on Calvin Coolidge

John Farrell on Richard Nixon

Paul Gregory on Lee Harvey Oswald

Nicole Hemmer on Ronald Reagan

Jonathan Martin on Donald Trump

Pete Souza on Barack Obama

Gabriel Debenedetti on the legacies of Obama and Biden

Anthony Fauci on his own legacy

Ali Vitali on Queen Elizabeth II and female leadership

Darlene Superville and Julie Pace on Jill Biden's influence on Joe Biden's decision whether to run for reelection

"Just running to stay ahead of the darkness" A Conversation About Ted Kennedy with John Farrell Dec 08, 2022

John Farrell is a former White House correspondent and Washington editor for the Boston Globe and a former Washington Bureau Chief and columnist for the Denver Post. He is also a best-selling and award-winning author whose works include Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century; Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned; and Richard Nixon: The Life, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize that he discussed in an earlier episode of this program.

His latest book, Ted Kennedy: A Life, explores Senator Kennedy’s remarkable 77 years, rife with inconceivable triumph and unimaginable tragedy.

"He operates almost entirely from first principle" A Conversation About Grover Cleveland with Troy Senik Nov 24, 2022

Grover Cleveland hardly ranks among the most celebrated or accomplished of American presidents. Like Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, and other presidents of the late 19th century, Cleveland held office at a time when Congress dominated national political life and few Americans expected much of their chief executive. And yet closer inspection reveals a most remarkable president -- and not only because he is the only one to hold two non-consecutive terms.

Troy Senik is a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and a co-founder of the digital media company Kite & Key. Troy is also author of A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbably Presidency of Grover Cleveland (September 2022).

"When the country needed him, he rose to the occasion" A Conversation With Pete Souza About Barack Obama and Presidential Photography Nov 10, 2022

Pete Souza is one of our nation’s leading photojournalists—and few have risen to greater prominence. He has worked as an official White House photographer for Ronald Reagan and the chief official White House photographer for Barack Obama. Among many other distinctions, he won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 along with colleagues at the Chicago Tribune, and last year he was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame. His books include Obama: An Intimate Portrait, one of the bestselling photography books of all time; Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents; and his latest, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency.

Mark Updegrove and Mark Lawrence talk to Pete about his unique vantage point on the presidency and the presidents he has worked with and captured for history.

"I never doubted he did it and did it alone" A Conversation with Paul Gregory About Lee Harvey Oswald Oct 27, 2022

Paul Gregory is an expert on Russia and is currently a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. A pioneer in the study of Soviet and Russian economics, his textbook on the Russian economy was used to teach more than two generations of students. But Gregory’s latest book is on a subject that he has been reluctant to address for nearly six decades: his relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald and his young wife Marina. Gregory was one of the few people who actually knew them. His inside account of the Oswalds’s marriage offers a disturbing portrait of Lee Harvey Oswald, whom Gregory believes acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy.

We talked to Gregory about the Lee Harvey Oswald he came to know, someone who possessed the motive, cunning, and killer instinct of a murderer who was desperately vying for a place in history.

"Electability has become the new likeability" A Conversation with Ali Vitali About Women and the Presidency Oct 13, 2022

Journalist Ali Vitali is a familiar face on America’s TV screens, having covered politics first for MSNBC and then for NBC News for nearly a decade. She reported on the 2016 race won by President Trump and then returned to the presidential campaign trail in 2020 to cover several Democratic candidates, including the record-setting four women who competed strongly for the nomination.

Ali talked with us about the obstacles that female contenders have faced in running for the presidency over the years, how those challenges might be overcome, and the prospects for election of the nation’s first female president.

"The presidency is a lagging indicator for shifts in US politics" A Conversation with Nicole Hemmer About the Modern Conservative Movement Sep 29, 2022

Nicole Hemmer is a political historian and Founding Director of the Rogers Center for the Study of the Presidency at Vanderbilt University. She’s also Cofounder of Made by History, a section of the Washington Post that offers historical context and analysis, and writes regularly for the New York Times, CNN and Politico.

Hemmer talked to us about the partisan politicians, personalities and pundits who began remaking the Republican Party 30 years ago, forging a modern conservative movement that trumped the conservative coalition of Republican icon Ronald Reagan and led to the far right Trumpism of today’s GOP.

"They're the only two people in the world who can possibly understand each other" A Conversation About Biden and Obama with Gabriel Debenedetti Sep 15, 2022

Journalist Gabriel Debenedetti is the national correspondent for New York magazine, where he writes about politics and national affairs. He’s also written for Politico, Reuters, the New York Times Book Review, the Economist, and the New Republic, among other publications. Just this month, he published his remarkable first book, The Long Alliance: The Imperfect Union of Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

The Long Alliance delves into one of the most consequential political partnerships of recent times – the sometimes contentious, often close relationship between America’s forty-fourth and forty-sixth presidents. Gabe joined us to talk about how two men from different generations, with contrasting political styles, led the Democratic party through challenging moments of recent history, and continue to shape the nation today.

"Had he destroyed the tapes, I'm convinced he would have finished his second term" A Conversation About Watergate With Tim Naftali Sep 01, 2022

Tim Naftali, who teaches history at New York University, is one of the nation’s most accomplished scholars of American foreign policy and the Cold War. His numerous books include studies of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet foreign policy, and U.S. counterterrorism policy. He’s held teaching positions over the years at Yale University, the University of Hawaii and the University of Virginia.

But Tim Naftali is also one of the nation’s leading experts on the Watergate scandal, which erupted in 1972 with the attempted burglary of the Democratic National Committee Office in Washington’s Watergate complex. As Director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum from 2007 to 2011, Tim was responsible for conducting numerous interviews with key players in the Watergate affair, redesigning the Library’s exhibit on the topic, and opening new archival materials connected to the scandal. Tim joined us to talk about Watergate and its meanings half a century later.

"Trump is aware how extraordinary his place is in history" A Conversation With Kate Andersen Brower Aug 18, 2022

Kate Andersen Brower began her career as a journalist, working as a producer for CBS News and Fox News before moving on to cover the White House for Bloomberg during the first term of Barack Obama. She’s currently a contributor to CNN and has written for The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and The Washington Post. A bestselling author, she has explored various aspects of life in, around, and out of the White House.

In this episode Mark Updegrove talks with Kate about three of her books: The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump, and First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents and the Pursuit of Power.

"It was not guilt, but it was an awareness of the destruction he caused" A Conversation About Truman With Jeffrey Frank Aug 04, 2022

When it comes to writing about American politics, few authors are as accomplished or as versatile as Jeffrey Frank. Jeffrey is an eminent journalist, having served as senior editor at The New Yorker and deputy editor of the New York Post's Outlook section. His work has also appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian.

Jeffrey has published four novels that dissect the social world of elite Washington. In 2013, he turned to presidential history, publishing Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage, a bestselling account of the partnership between President Eisenhower and his Vice President, Richard Nixon.

Jeffrey joins Mark Lawrence to talk about his latest book, The Trials of Harry S. Truman, the first study in many years to tell the story of the Truman presidency.

"Washington was very aware of his shortcomings" A Conversation About the Cabinet with Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky Jul 21, 2022

When we think of how our presidents make decisions, we often imagine them sitting around conference tables with their cabinet secretaries, engaging in detailed deliberation and weighing competing points of view. But where did this practice come from? When did the cabinet originate, and why does it function as it does?

Lindsay Chervinsky, a scholar of 18th century America and the U.S. presidency, is among the first historians to delve deeply into these questions. A senior fellow at the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, Lindsay has published in the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Magazine, CNN, The Washington Post, and USA Today. She joins Dr. Mark Lawrence to talk about her writing on the early American presidency.

A Conversation About First Lady Jill Biden With Julie Pace and Darlene Superville Jul 07, 2022

Dr. Jill Biden has been called President Biden’s greatest political asset and, in the course of their 45-year marriage, has been her husband’s closest and most trusted advisor.

"My father is a war criminal by the definition my father spoke of" A Conversation with Craig McNamara Jun 23, 2022

Craig McNamara is the son of Robert S. McNamara, who served as U.S. Secretary of Defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson during the 1960s. From his childhood, Craig cherished his father. But he also struggled for years to understand the elder McNamara’s role in the decisions that led to the war in Vietnam – an experience that forever distanced father from son.

Now a businessman and walnut farmer, Craig McNamara is founder of the Center for Land-Based Learning, an organization devoted to educating young farmers in the business of sustainable agriculture. Craig joins Mark Lawrence to talk about his remarkable life and especially his complicated relationship with the man he called ‘Dad.’

A Conversation With AFI Founder George Stevens, Jr. on growing up in the Golden Age of Hollywood Jun 09, 2022

On today's episode, we go slightly beyond the presidency as we talk to George Steven's Jr. about his new memoir, My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington.

The son of famed film director George Stevens, George Stevens Jr. grew up in the highest reaches of Hollywood, on the sets of classic films like Giant, Shane, The Diary of Anne Frank, and A Place in the Sun. But yearning for his own place in the sun, he ventured to Washington to work with legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow at the United States Information Agency, producing films for John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, before going on to work for other presidents in other capacities.

The founding director of the American Film Institute and the creator of the Kennedy Center Honors, Stevens describes his remarkable life and unimaginable brushes with history.

“What’s hanging over Biden’s election and to his presidency to this day are these competing impulses...” A Conversation with Jonathan Martin on "This Will Not Pass" and the battle for America’s future. May 26, 2022

Since its publication in May, This Will Not Pass, written by Jonathan Martin and his New York Times colleague Alexander Burns, has received thunderous attention. Martin and Burns dive deep into the corridors of Washington power to provide insight into the end of the Trump administration, the big lie around the presidential election of 2020, the insurrection attempt on January 6, and the dawn of the Biden administration.

Mark Updegrove talks to Martin about the explosive revelations in the book and, more broadly, the political polarization and party dysfunction that have become the hallmarks of today’s Washington.

“He did what he thought was necessary to win.” A Conversation with Kai Bird on President Jimmy Carter May 12, 2022

My guest today is Kai Bird, author of the new biography, The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter. This extraordinary book examines the 39th president with unprecedented depth as well as balance, highlighting President Carter's great achievements as well as the shortcomings that made him a one-term president.

Kai Bird is the Executive Director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the CUNY Graduate Center and a highly acclaimed author with several biographies to his credit. These include The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy and The American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, which Bird co-authored with Martin Sherwin and won the Pulitzer Prize.

A Conversation with Alexis Coe on You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington Apr 28, 2022

Coe’s first book, Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis, appeared in 2014. More recently, she published the book that we’ll be discussing today, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington, which appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Coe has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times, and TheNew Republic. She has also hosted the podcast No Man’s Land and Presidents are People Too! and worked as consulting producer for the forthcoming History Channel program on Washington.

A Conversation with Historian Christopher Leahy on the President Without a Party: The Life of John Tyler Apr 14, 2022

Our special guest today is Professor Christopher Leahy, a leading expert on the U.S. presidency and American politics in the 18th and 19th centuries. His book, President Without a Party: The Life of John Tyler, published by LSU Press in 2020, is the first full-scale biography of America’s 10th president published in more than 80 years. Dr. Leahy has appeared on numerous podcasts discussing his work and he’s also the author of numerous journal articles and reviews in scholarly publications.

“Politics requires treating your opponents as adversaries, not enemies,” A Conversation with Fredrik Logevall on John F. Kennedy Mar 31, 2022

Fredrik Logevall is the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs and Professor of History at Harvard University. Dr. Logevall is the author or editor of ten books including Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam, which won the Pulitzer Prize for History. Most recently, he's published JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956, the first volume of what will be a monumental two-part biography of John F. Kennedy.

“There is nothing that defines the role of First Lady,” A Conversation with Tina Tchen on how Mrs. Obama carved out her role as First Lady Mar 17, 2022

Barack Obama made history in 2008, becoming the first African American to be elected to our nation’s highest office, as our 44th President. When he took office in January 2009, he brought a small coterie of close and loyal friends from his home state of Illinois to join him at the White House. Among them was Tina Tchen, who would become a White House insider and a close aide to Barack and Michelle Obama.

Tchen began her White House tenure in 2009 as the Director of Public Engagement before serving as Assistant to President Obama and Chief of Staff to the First Lady from 2011 to 2017. She talks about what it was like to be behind the scenes in the West and East Wings during the Obama administration working closely with President and Mrs. Obama, and what their legacies will mean to history.

“Coolidge prided himself in not letting laws get through.” A Conversation with Amity Shlaes on Calvin Coolidge Mar 03, 2022

My guest today is Amity Shlaes, a well-known columnist for the Financial Times and Forbes magazine and a former member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board. She's also one of America's premier economic historians. Shlaes has published six books to date, including Great Society: A New History and The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression.

She joins us to talk about her biography of America's 30th President, Calvin Coolidge.

“You don't understand Jefferson, if you don't understand the way he exploited his enslaved people.” A Conversation With Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter Onuf Feb 17, 2022

Annette Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University. She's the author of six books, including The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Peter Onuf is the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Virginia. He's also author of numerous books, including most recently Statehood and Union: A History of the Northwest Ordinance.

In 2017, these two giants in the history of the early American republic teamed up to publish the book at the heart of our discussion today, “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs”: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination. This book ranks among the most original and engaging studies of Thomas Jefferson and his times to appear in recent years. They join us today to discuss our third President, his life and times.

“The tragedy is that Andrew Johnson replaces him,” A Conversation with John Avlon on Lincoln and the Fight for Peace. Feb 03, 2022

There have been countless books written about Abraham Lincoln, but John Avlon’s new book, Lincoln and the Fight for Peace, takes a different tact. Chronicling the last days of Lincoln’s life after the most bloody war in our history, Avlon looks at the plans for peace that he calls Lincoln’s “unfinished symphony.”

John Avlon is a senior political analyst and anchor at CNN and the author of Independent Nation, Wingnuts, and Washington’s Farewell, which covers George Washington’s farewell address and its seminal mark on our nation. Previously Avlon served as editor-in-chief and managing director of The Daily Beast and as chief speechwriter for the Mayor of New York after the attacks of 9/11.

“Watergate was the symptomatic scandal that caught him, but it was not an aberration.” A Conversation with John Farrell on Richard Nixon Jan 20, 2022

John A. Farrell joins us for a conversation about America’s 37th president, Richard Nixon. John is author of Richard Nixon: The Life, which won the PEN America Award for biography and the New York Historical Society’s prize for American History. The book was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

John worked for many years as a journalist for major American dailies and covered the White House for TheBoston Globe. His books include biographies, not just of President Nixon, but also of the famed lawyer Clarence Darrow and House Speaker Tip O’Neill.

“When you're in crisis mode all the time, it makes it very hard to think in the long term.” A Conversation with Dr. Jeremi Suri on the American presidency Jan 06, 2022

This week we address the history of the presidency writ large with Jeremi Suri, the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair in Global Affairs at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a professor in the Department of History at The University of Texas. He is a frequent commentator on current affairs and writes for op-ed pages and book reviews all over the country. He hosts his own podcast, This is Democracy, and he is author of several books in American history and the international history of the 20th century.

In his book The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office, Dr. Suri sweeps across the history of the American presidency and paints a rather gloomy picture of the institution in the early 21st century. In this episode, he explains why we haven’t had a great president since Franklin Roosevelt, in his opinion.

“There are a series of environmental threats and social threats that are written into our body…” A Conversation with Raj Patel Dec 23, 2021

Raj Patel is a New York Times bestselling author and a Research Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. An expert on the world food system, he has testified about hunger and food sovereignty to the U.S., British and European Union governments.

His latest book Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice, written with co-author Rupa Marya, reveals the links between health and structural injustices—and offers solutions that can lead to the healing of our bodies and our world.

A Conversation with Doris Kearns Goodwin on Presidential Leadership in Turbulent Times Dec 09, 2021

Doris Kearns Goodwin is one of our most respected and celebrated historians. She is the author of seven books, including No Ordinary Time, which won the Pulitzer Prize for history, and Team of Rivals, which was adapted into Steven Speilberg’s film Lincoln.

Her latest book, Leadership in Turbulent Times, looks at four Presidents she has studied closely as a biographer: Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson, for whom she worked as a White House Fellow before helping him write his memoir after he left the presidency.

This conversation took place on September 26, 2018, at the LBJ Presidential Library.

“This is a major challenge that LBJ poses to us: he’s very difficult to evaluate...” A Conversation with Dr. Mark Lawrence on The End of Ambition Nov 24, 2021

Dr. Mark Lawrence is the Director of the LBJ Presidential Library and a former professor of history at The University of Texas at Austin. An expert on the Lyndon Johnson years, he is the author of three books relating to America’s foreign policy during the period. His latest, The End of Ambition: The United States and the Third World in the Vietnam Era, looks at how America’s once thriving ambition to democratize and develop much of the Third World diminished during the Johnson presidency, and why.

Veterans Day Special: A Conversation with Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates Nov 11, 2021

Since this episode drops on Veterans Day, we thought we would devote it to one of our nation’s most respected veterans. Robert M. Gates spent half a century of his life devoted to public service. He started his career in the Air Force before being recruited to the CIA, where he climbed the ranks to become the agency’s director under President George H. W. Bush, one of eight U.S. presidents Secretary Gates served throughout his illustrious career. In 2006 he became Secretary of Defense for George W. Bush, a job he continued for Barack Obama until 2011. He is the first person to hold that position for both Republican and Democratic administrations, a reflection of the esteem in which he is held on both sides of the political aisle. He talks about leadership, what makes a good leader, his own leadership style, and the leadership of the presidents he has served.

This conversation took place on January 28, 2016, at the LBJ Presidential Library, as part of the Tom Johnson Lecture Series.

"Mark Twain was the first stand-up comedian." A Conversation with Cappy McGarr on the Mark Twain Prize Oct 28, 2021

Mark Twain once said “Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.” If so, as the greatest humorist of his day, Twain himself blessed our country throughout much of his life. How appropriate then, to name our nation’s highest award for comedy in his honor.

Cappy McGarr co-created the John F. Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which launched in 1998. Appointed to the Kennedy Center board of trustees by Bill Clinton in 1996 and Barack Obama in 2011, McGarr continues to serve as Executive Producer of the Mark Twain Prize and also helped established the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

His new book, The Man Who Made Mark Twain Famous: Stories from the Kennedy Center, the White House and Other Comedy Venues, recounts his history with the Mark Twain Prize and what he has learned about comedy—and our most famous comedians—along the way.

“I'm 80 years old. I'm not looking for another job.” A Conversation With Dr. Anthony Fauci Oct 14, 2021

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019, Dr. Anthony Fauci has become a household name. As the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to the President, Dr. Fauci is the public health official who has been most visible around the pandemic. But his service to our country goes well beyond combating COVID-19. In his nearly 40 years at the NIAID, he has advised every president since Ronald Reagan and has worked to find remedies for HIV/AIDS, SARS, MERS, Ebola, H1N1 (swine flu), and Anthrax.

Dr. Fauci talks frankly about what he has learned in his fruitful life and career in medicine, the high praise and scorching criticism he has received along the way, and the unparalleled challenges he has faced in helping to keep our country safe from COVID-19.

“I was carrying around the weight of UT's racial history…” A Conversation With Dr. Leonard Moore on Teaching Black History to White People Sep 30, 2021

For 25 years Dr. Leonard Moore, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has been teaching Black history—mostly to white students. He describes his engaging and provocative new book, Teaching Black History to White People, as “part memoir, part Black history, part pedagogy, part how-to guide.” He argues that Black history should be an essential part of student curriculum as a means of understanding the Black experience in America and as a prescription for greater racial harmony.

“Nobody wanted to admit they were losing a war that America thought it had won.” A Conversation with Craig Whitlock on The Afghanistan Papers Sep 16, 2021

The astonishing fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban after nearly 20 years of American occupation has had many wondering what went wrong in our nation’s longest war, not just in recent days but in the two decades that preceded it.

Award-winning investigative reporter Craig Whitlock offers an authoritative perspective. Whitlock has covered the war in Afghanistan for the Washington Post as a foreign correspondent, Pentagon reporter, and national security specialist.

His new book, The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War, tells the story of an unwinnable campaign that had gone awry almost from the beginning, sparking a military and government conspiracy to keep the failure of the war from the American people. As he explains in this interview, “America was losing a war it thought it had won.”

A Conversation with Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, and Clay Johnson in Recognition of 9/11 Sep 02, 2021

The 20th anniversary of the attacks on 9/11 is a time for reflection for many Americans. Most of us remember indelibly where we were when the attacks on our homeland changed the course of history.

In this episode, we draw on an LBJ Library program with three pivotal members of the George W. Bush Administration who have their own unique perspectives on that fateful day: Karen Hughes served as Counselor to the President, Clay Johnson as Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel, and Karl Rove as Senior Advisor to President. Each reflected on their personal experiences and what it was like to be with the President on September 11, 2001, and in the crucial days immediately afterward.

This conversation took place on September 3, 2013, at the LBJ Presidential Library, as part of the Evening With speaker series.

“Hoover knew who was in control and it was Lyndon Johnson.” A Conversation with Paul Letersky on his years assisting J. Edgar Hoover. Aug 19, 2021

For over 50 years J. Edgar Hoover reigned supreme over the Federal Bureau of Investigation, wielding outsize political power as he inspired fear in enemies and allies alike. Through the course of eight presidencies, the Director waged battle against anyone he considered to be a possible enemy of state –from suspected Communists and instigators to terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Weathermen.

The story of the legendary but controversial FBI director is told through the eyes of one who knew him well. Paul Letersky’s new book, The Director: My Years Assisting J. Edgar Hoover, chronicles his years working directly for Hoover, starting in 1966 when he was unexpectedly tapped by Hoover to be a member of his personal staff.

What Should Happen to the Filibuster? A Conversation with Nicholas Fandos on the future of Voting Rights in Congress. Aug 05, 2021

In spite of our country’s most basic democratic principles, the struggle for voting rights has been consistent throughout our history. But, in the face of voting right suppression, the inability of Congress to enact meaningful voting rights reform, and the efforts of a number of Republican-led states to restrict voting have many concerned about the state of our democracy.

Nicholas Fandos, congressional correspondent for TheNew York Times, has covered Capitol Hill since 2017. He talks about our nation’s inconstant history on voting rights, his perspective on why voting rights are currently under siege, and what can be done to protect our most inalienable right as Americans.

“We have to forget the Alamo myths to remember the historic Alamo properly.” A Conversation with Forget the Alamo authors Bryan Burrough & Chris Tomlinson Jul 22, 2021

The legend of the battle of the Alamo is not only an intrinsic part of Texas lore but is enshrined in the American imagination—a band of fiery rebels fighting for independence who die as martyrs in the cause of liberty. But a new book, “Forget the Alamo!” argues that the Alamo myth is just that—an allegory that tells us what we want to believe about the Alamo, but not what actually happened.

Written by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford, “Forget the Alamo!” has not been without its critics. A recent event at the Bullock Texas State History Museum was cancelled hours beforehand by Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, who called it a “fact-free rewriting of Texas history.”

Guest host LBJ Library Director Mark Lawrence talks to two of the book’s authors—Bryan Burrough and Chris Tomlinson—about what history really says about the Battle of the Alamo and why the myth that so many want to preserve has endured so long.

What Would Theodore Roosevelt Do if He Were President Today? A Conversation with Clay Risen Jul 08, 2021

Teddy Roosevelt, one of only four U.S. presidents to grace Mount Rushmore, consistently ranks as one of America’s best presidents. But what makes him so great? And how did the volunteer army he organized to fight the Spanish American War in Cuba, the legendary Rough Riders, lead to his meteoric rise in American life?

Clay Risen, a senior politics editor at The New York Times and author of The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century, shares how Roosevelt became a revered leader—and what Roosevelt might make of our political environment today.

“President Bush is the one who kept President Clinton on time.” A Conversation with Jean Becker on President George H.W. Bush’s Post-Presidency and more Jun 24, 2021

For over 25 years, Jean Becker served as the Chief of Staff to former President George H.W. Bush. Her new book, “The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H.W. Bush’s Post-Presidency” provides an intimate glimpse of the 41st President and the ups and downs of his post presidency, revealing his heart, humor, and wisdom.

Becker takes us behind the curtain as she discusses what it was like for Bush to see his son, George W., become President, how he developed an unlikely but close friendship with Bill Clinton, and how he committed to serving others throughout his eventful, purposeful life.

“They all agreed that one of them was going to die,” A Conversation with Jeff Shesol on Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, and the New Battleground of the Cold War Jun 10, 2021

Jeff Shesol is a historian, former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, and the creator of the comic strip “Thatch.” He is the author of three books including “Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud That Defined a Decade” and “Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court.” His latest book, “Mercury Rising” chronicles astronaut John Glenn and President John Kennedy during the nascent days of the U.S. space program, as NASA trailed haplessly behind the Soviet Union in space exploration, stoking fears that the Soviet Union was gaining a crucial technological upper hand in the Cold War.

A Conversation with Lisa Napoli on Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR May 27, 2021

Lisa Napoli’s new book, Susan, Linda, Nina & Cokie is the story of the “founding mothers” of NPR – Susan Stamberg, Linda Wertheimer, Nina Totenberg, and Cokie Roberts – wrapped around the emergence of public radio and second-wave feminism in the seventies. She talks about the friendship between these remarkable women, how they overcame gender barriers to become icons of their industry, and reflects on the state of journalism today.

“We are attracted to Abraham Lincoln because for us, he seems to embody what America is all about.” A Conversation with Ron White May 13, 2021

Ronald C. White’s latest book, Lincoln in Private, explores the lesser-known and most personal aspects of President Abraham Lincoln, using 111 notes that Lincoln made to himself over the years. White discusses why Lincoln should be considered our greatest President, personifying the American Dream, while reflecting on how the notes reveal Lincoln’s intellectual curiosity, ambition, and melancholy.

Copies of Lincoln in Private are available for sale from The Store at LBJ.

A Conversation with Lynn Novick on the Art of Storytelling and Her Latest Documentary, Hemingway Apr 29, 2021

Along with her partner Ken Burns, director and producer Lynn Novick has set the standard for documentary film. She has created more than 80 hours of PBS programming with Burns, including The Vietnam War, Baseball, Jazz, and The War, which together have garnered 19 Emmy nominations.

Their latest collaboration, Hemingway, takes a hard look at one of America’s most storied and enigmatic writers. Novick joins us to talk about the new film, what she learned about the complex author, and how she got into filmmaking.

“We were in love, it's a fairly short, simple story”: A Conversation with former Governor and Senator Chuck Robb on Politics, War, and Marrying into LBJ’s Family Apr 15, 2021

Chuck Robb has spent most of his life “in the arena,” as Theodore Roosevelt called it, engaged in military and public service. As an officer in the Marine Corps, he became a White House social aide, where he met and soon married Lynda Bird Johnson, the daughter of his Commander-in-chief, Lyndon Johnson. Soon after their spectacular White House wedding, he shipped off to the war in Vietnam, where he would earn the Bronze Star.

Later, he would become Lieutenant Governor, then Governor of Virginia, and would go on to serve two terms in the U.S. Senate. He shares stories from his new memoir, appropriately titled “In the Arena,” chronicling his eventful life.

Copies of “In the Arena: A Memoir of Love, War, and Politics” are available from The Store at LBJ.

“When should we design our children to have genes that we would prefer?”: A Conversation with Walter Isaacson Apr 01, 2021

Author Walter Isaacson has spent years chronicling the lives of the world’s most innovative minds. The former editor of TIME Magazine, Chairman of CNN, and CEO of the Aspen Institute has written bestselling works on Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs and others. In his latest book The Code Breaker, he explores the life and work of Jennifer Doudna, the Nobel Prize-winning biochemist who co-discovered CRISPR, enabling gene editing for the first time.

In this episode, Isaacson talks about Jennifer Doudna and what CRISPR technology will mean for our world, both in terms of its medical and technical possibilities and its moral and ethical implications.

“She understood that power is the ability to get other people to believe that what they're doing for you is actually in their interests.” A Conversation with Julia Sweig on Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight Mar 18, 2021

In her new book “Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight,” and her complementary ABC News podcast, “In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson,” author Julia Sweig takes a very different look at the former first lady. Relying heavily on rarely heard oral diaries that Mrs. Johnson made throughout her time in the White House, she depicts a Lady Bird Johnson who is far more substantive and consequential—having a profound influence on Lyndon Johnson’s presidency—than previous biographers imagined. In this episode, Sweig talks about the woman she has come to know through her six years of research—the remarkable Lady Bird Johnson.

"The American dream needs to be broader, more nuanced, but also fundamentally reflective of who we truly are as human beings." : A Conversation with Julián Castro Mar 04, 2021

Julián Castro rose from a low-income household in his native San Antonio, Texas, to become the city’s mayor at the age of 34. He would go on to serve as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Barack Obama, becoming President Obama’s youngest Cabinet secretary. A one-time summer intern for the Bill Clinton White House, he ran for the presidency himself in 2020. His observations on the campaign trail and as a Cabinet secretary led to his new podcast, “Our America with Julián Castro,” in which he explores the disparity in the American experience and the steps we might take toward a healthier, more just and fair America.

Secretary Castro discusses what he learned in his 2020 presidential run, his new podcast “One America with Julián Castro,” and, given the challenges of inequity we face today, the state of the American Dream.

“He was able to create this atmosphere of trust," : A Conversation with David Stewart on the Life of George Washington Feb 25, 2021

David O. Stewart is the bestselling author of eight books on American history and historical nonfiction. His latest book, George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father, examines the George Washington we may not know—not the imposing, distantly formidable Washington on Mt. Rushmore but a flesh and blood younger Washington who makes mistakes, battles character flaws, and consciously puts himself on a road toward self-improvement and, ultimately, greatness. Stewart talks about what might be the ultimate comeback story from his book that TheWall Street Journal calls “an outstanding biography…with a narrative drive that such a life deserves."

"Know your strengths, find your cause, and get started tomorrow.": A Conversation with Lucinda Robb and Rebecca Roberts Feb 04, 2021

Lucinda Robb and Rebecca Boggs Roberts, whose friendship goes back generations - to their grandmothers, Lady Bird Johnson and Lindy Boggs, and their mothers, Lynda Robb and Cokie Roberts - wrote The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World in recognition of the centennial of the 19th Amendment. The authors discuss the women, many unheralded, who waged the 72-year struggle toward achieving a woman’s right to vote, and the template the suffrage movement provides for pursuing a successful social movement today.

Copies of The Suffragist Playbook with signed bookplates are available for sale from The Store at LBJ.

A Conversation with Hank Aaron Jan 28, 2021

Hank Aaron, who died on January 22 at age 86, was one of baseball’s greatest heroes. His legendary career spanned 23 seasons, including 21 in which he was named an All-Star. When he broke Babe Ruth’s hallowed career homerun record in 1974, it was one of baseball’s most glorious moments. But, in many ways, it was also a painful one for Aaron, who was confronted by virulent racism.

In 2015, we hosted Aaron at the LBJ Library. In an unusually candid interview, he reflected on his life and career, and offered his thoughts on baseball and the world today, and the advice he would give to young people following his example.

This conversation took place on January 22, 2015, at the LBJ Presidential Library, as part of the Tom Johnson Lecture Series.

“Joe Biden wants to be every legislator’s friend.”: A Conversation with Former Lt. Governor Ben Barnes Jan 14, 2021

Ben Barnes was a political protégé of Lyndon Johnson. Elected to the Texas legislature in 1960, he became the Speaker of the Texas House at age 26, making him the youngest House Speaker in a state legislature in 95 years. He went on to become Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1969, a post he held for 4 years.

As a politician, political strategist or lobbyist, he has come to know every president since John F. Kennedy, offering political counsel to many, and has an especially close relationship with Joe Biden, whom he met when Biden was elected to become the Junior Senator from Delaware in 1972.

Barnes talks about last week’s tragic siege on our nation’s Capitol, the fate of President Trump, and what the Biden presidency will look like.

Copies of Barnes’ book “Barn Burning, Barn Building” are available for sale from The Store at LBJ.

"We’re not respected by our allies." : A Conversation with James A. Baker, III Jan 07, 2021

James A. Baker, III was one of the most consequential statesmen of the latter half of the 20th century. A power broker in Washington during the Ford, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush administrations, Secretary Baker held three different cabinet positions, twice served in the role of Chief of Staff, and ran five presidential campaigns. As Secretary of State for George H.W. Bush, he was widely credited with facilitating a peaceful end to the Cold War and working to reunite Germany in its wake.

His eventful life is chronicled in the bestselling book “The Man Who Ran Washington,” by New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker and New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser.

In this conversation, Secretary Baker is joined by authors Peter Baker and Susan Glasser to discuss Secretary Baker’s extraordinary journey in government and how his Washington differs from that of today.

"We are not each other’s enemies." : A Conversation with Valerie Jarrett Dec 23, 2020

During the 8 years of the Obama presidency, Valerie Jarrett was one of the most powerful people in Washington. A top advisor to President Obama, she oversaw the Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls. She now serves as a senior advisor to the Obama Foundation and a Senior Distinguished Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School.

Jarrett shares her thoughts on the current presidential transition and President-elect Biden, what she anticipates from the Biden-Harris Administration, and her longtime relationship and ongoing work with Barack and Michelle Obama.

"The way that young Latinos voted, it wasn't just a vote for Joe Biden, it was a vote for themselves." : A Conversation with Paola Ramos Dec 10, 2020

Paola Ramos is a host and correspondent for VICE and VICE News, as well as a contributor to MSNBC and Telemundo News. Her new book, Finding Latinx: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity, explores an expanding definition of means to be Latino in America, and ultimately, what it means to be an American. As Stacey Abrams has said of the book, it provides “a deeper understanding of who we are at our core and on the margins, nuanced identities that compose the great American mosaic."

“They were peddling a story to the American public,” A Conversation with Dr. Don Carleton Nov 12, 2020

Dr. Don Carleton is founder and executive director of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin, an archive documenting key themes in U.S. and world history. The Briscoe Center’s new book, Flash of Light, Wall of Fire, provides little seen photographic documentation of the horrific human toll of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II.

Copies of Flash of Light, Wall of Fire are available for sale from The Store at LBJ.

From Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump: How Did We Get Here?: A Conversation with Robert Dallek Oct 29, 2020

Robert Dallek is one of our country’s leading presidential historians. His many books include groundbreaking works on Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon. Dallek discusses his latest book, “How Did We Get Here?: From Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump,” which charts how the triumphs and failures of our modern presidents paved the way for our current president, who, Dallek writes, “presents a new challenge to our system of government.”

“Trump seized history’s clock”: A Conversation with Bob Woodward Oct 15, 2020

Since breaking the fateful story of Watergate in 1972, Bob Woodward has been at the top of his field, twice winning the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism and writing 18 best-selling books. Woodward’s latest book, “Rage,” his second on Donald Trump, features 18 exclusive interviews with President Trump himself. In this episode, he discusses the explosive new book and what it says about President Trump, the balance between journalism and history, and his nearly 50-year career covering nine presidents.

This conversation was recorded on September 24, 2020, as part of a virtual program co-sponsored by the Harry Ransom Center and the School of Journalism and Media at The University of Texas at Austin.

Copies of "Rage" are available for sale from The Store at LBJ.

What defines us as Americans?: A Conversation with former Vice President Joe Biden Oct 01, 2020

Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for President, has been a major fixture in politics for nearly half a century, since his election to the Senate in 1972. In the fall of 2017, the former Vice President came to the LBJ Presidential Library, where he spoke about the values instilled in him by his parents and how they shaped him, why he got into politics in the first place, and the marked changes he’s seen in Washington and the American electorate in recent years.

This conversation took place on October 3, 2017, at the LBJ Presidential Library, as part of the Tom Johnson Lecture Series.

Fighting Prejudice Through Faith and Activism: A Conversation with Nona Jones Sep 17, 2020

In this episode, we hear from Nona Jones, author, media personality, and Head of Global Faith-Based Partnerships at Facebook. Her recent initiative “Faith and Prejudice” - a church-based effort to help white parishioners confront and dismantle racism in themselves, their churches, and their communities - has reached over 6 million viewers since its launch this summer. Nona talks about her own fascinating story, what drew her to Facebook, and how “Faith and Prejudice” is successfully working to heal the racial divide.

A Conversation with Jennifer Palmieri Sep 03, 2020

Jennifer Palmieri has spent her career in Democratic politics. In 2013, she became the White House Director of Communications for Barack Obama and went on to become the Director of Communications for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid. After Clinton’s loss, she wrote “Dear Madam President,” a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her new book, “She Proclaims,” is a manifesto for women to move beyond the bonds of patriarchy toward true gender equity.

Copies of Palmieri’s book, “She Proclaims: Our Declaration of Independence from a Man’s World,” are available for sale from The Store at LBJ.

A Conversation with Victoria Soto and Julian Zelizer Aug 20, 2020

In today’s episode, we take a look at the upcoming presidential election that will pit President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic challengers Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Joining us to offer their analysis and perspectives are two prominent political analysts.

Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, a contributor to MSNBC, is the Assistant Dean for Civic Engagement and a Lecturer at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin.

Julian Zelizer, a contributor to CNN, is a Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University and the author of nineteen books on American political history, including his latest, Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, the Fall of a Speaker and the Rise of the New Republican Party.

Copies of Zelizer’s previous book, “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society,” are available for sale from The Store at LBJ.

Conversations with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Secretary Condoleezza Rice Aug 13, 2020

This month marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote in the United States. To mark the occasion, we bring you conversations with two iconic women, Nancy Pelosi and Condoleezza Rice.

First is an interview with one of our nation’s most powerful women, Nancy Pelosi, who made history in 2007 by becoming the first woman to become Speaker of the House of Representatives. The second conversation, moderated by former White House Press Secretary and Fox News host Dana Perino, features Condoleezza Rice, the first African American woman to serve as Secretary of State and the first woman to serve as National Security Advisor.

Speaker Pelosi and Dr. Rice talk about the women who inspired them, the trails they blazed, and their counsel to young women today to continue the fight for gender equity.

The conversations in this episode were part of a program co-hosted on August 6, 2020, by the LBJ Presidential Library, the National Archives, the George and Barbara Bush Foundation, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the National Constitution Center, The 19th and All in Together.

A Conversation with Paul Begala Aug 06, 2020

Paul Begala is one of our nation’s most talented political strategists. He came to national prominence in 1992 when he helped then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton win the presidency, then served as counselor to President Clinton, coordinating policy, politics and communications. A CNN contributor, he is the author of six political books, including his latest “You’re Fired: The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump.”

In this wide-ranging conversation, Begala talks about how Donald Trump won the White House in 2016, the state of the national electorate today, and what it will take for Joe Biden to defeat President Trump in November.

Copies of “You’re Fired: The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump” are available to purchase from The Store at LBJ.

A Conversation with Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Cristina Tzinztún Ramírez Jul 23, 2020

This episode explores how to build a meaningful social movement with two leading forces in activism today. Brittany Packnett Cunningham is an educator, writer, NBC News contributor, and co-founder of Campaign Zero, a policy platform to end police violence. Cristina Tzinztún Ramírez, a recent candidate for the U.S. Senate, is an author, community organizer, and founder of JOLT, a civil rights nonprofit aspiring to increase voter turn-out among Latinos in Texas. Moderating the conversation is Dr. Leonard Moore, Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement and Professor of American History at The University of Texas at Austin.

This conversation took place on April 9, 2019, at the LBJ Presidential Library as part of a three-day Summit on Race in America.

A Conversation with Larry Tye Jul 09, 2020

Acclaimed author Larry Tye's latest book, "Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy," examines the pernicious legacy of the notorious senator from Wisconsin, whose anti-Communist campaign in the 1950s—built largely on falsehoods and fabrication—led to division and disunity that seems very familiar in America today. Tye's other books include "Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend," a biography of baseball legend Satchel Paige, and "Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon."

Signed copies of "Demagogue” are available to purchase from The Store at LBJ.

A Conversation with Melody Barnes Jul 02, 2020

Melody Barnes served as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Barack Obama, and is the host of the recent podcast "LBJ and the Great Society." Currently, she's a professor at the University of Virginia's Miller Center and co-director of the university's Democracy Initiative.

In this conversation, Barnes reflects on this moment in our nation's history as the promise of systemic reform toward racial equity looms; the striking comparisons between 2020 and 1968, when Martin Luther King Jr. and others used the power of protest toward the power of the pen in bringing about transformational change; and the legacies of both Lyndon Johnson and Barack Obama.

A Conversation with Robert Caro Jun 25, 2020

Robert Caro is one of our country's most celebrated authors. His four volumes chronicling the life and times of Lyndon Johnson and 1,300-page book on New York power broker Robert Moses have earned him nearly every major literary honor, including the National Book Award and two Pulitzer Prizes.

In this interview with his friend and fellow author Stephen Harrigan, Caro talks about his latest book, "Working," which provides a window into how Caro crafts his epic works.

This conversation took place on April 15, 2019, at the LBJ Presidential Library.

Caro's biographies on Lyndon Johnson are available for purchase in The Store at LBJ.

A Conversation with Molly Ball Jun 17, 2020

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has earned a place in history, not only as the first woman to take on the role, but as one of the most effective. Molly Ball's new book "Pelosi," a New York Times bestseller and recommended by The Washington Post as one of "20 Books to Read This Summer," tracks Speaker Pelosi's eventful life from being a stay-at-home mother of five to becoming the most powerful Democrat in America today.

Molly Ball serves as the national political correspondent for TIME magazine and has spent years covering Nancy Pelosi.

Signed copies of "Pelosi" are available to purchase from The Store at LBJ.

A Conversation with Chris Wallace Jun 11, 2020

Veteran television journalist Chris Wallace, the host of Fox News Sunday, discusses his new book, "Countdown 1945," detailing the turbulent first 116 days of Harry Truman's presidency, from Truman unexpectedly becoming president in the wake of Franklin Roosevelt's death to the bombing of Hiroshima to end World War II. Wallace also shares what it's like to be on the receiving end of angry tweets by our current president and weighs in on how news organizations—including Fox News—add to the divisions we currently see in our nation today.

Copies of "Countdown 1945" are available to purchase from The Store at LBJ.

A Conversation with Bakari Sellers Jun 04, 2020

Bakari Sellers became the youngest African American elected official in the country in 2007, when he was sworn into the South Carolina legislature at age 22. Currently a contributor to CNN, he talks about his new book, "My Vanishing Country: A Memoir," which looks at the rural black America in which he grew up and how it has changed adversely over time, as he recounts his own life and his quest for racial equity. He also offers his perspective about the challenges our nation faces on race in the wake of national uprisings around the murder of George Floyd.

Signed copies of "My Vanishing Country" are available to purchase from The Store at LBJ.

A Conversation with Dr. Peniel E. Joseph May 28, 2020

Dr. Peniel E. Joseph is a Professor of Public Affairs and the founding director for the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. His critically acclaimed new book, "The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.," argues for a new interpretation of these two historic civil rights leaders.

In this episode, Joseph looks at the lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., their markedly different backgrounds and influences, and their divergent but ultimately complementary roles in forging a civil rights "historic period."

A Conversation with Dan Rather May 21, 2020

As a reporter and news anchor, Dan Rather has covered the biggest stories of the last half-century, from the Civil Rights Movement and Watergate to 9/11 and COVID-19. His wise commentary on current events has made him a social media phenomenon with millions of followers. Rather gives us his perspective on the times we're living in compared to those he's covered in the past; Donald Trump and his toxic relationship with the news media; and why he's a Texan by birth and by choice.

*Like many of us, Rather is quarantined at home with family members, and some ambient noise can be heard in the background—but this is well worth a listen.

A Conversation with Neil Gorsuch May 13, 2020

President Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court in January 2017. In this episode, Justice Gorsuch talks to us about his recent book, "A Republic, If You Can Keep It," in which he reflects on the dramatic changes in his life after his nomination; his experience on the high court since his appointment and the judicial principles of originalism and textualism that guide him; and why, despite all of our divisions, he has enduring faith in the American people.

The conversation took place on Sept. 19, 2019, a week after the book's publication, at the LBJ Presidential Library as part of the Tom Johnson Lecture series.

A Conversation with Lawrence Wright May 07, 2020

A virus starts in Asia, quickly growing into a global pandemic that throws the U.S. and the world into a state of chaos. Sound familiar? It's actually the plot of "The End of October," the new novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and staff writer for The New Yorker, Lawrence Wright. We talk to Wright about the creative impetus for the novel, what he learned about pandemics in his meticulous research, and how it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic we currently face.

Wright is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11," "God Save Texas," and "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief," for which he co-produced HBO's Emmy award-winning documentary adaptation.

A Conversation with Jean Becker and George P. Bush May 07, 2020

Two years after her passing, we explore the remarkable life of former First Lady Barbara Bush with Mrs. Bush's grandson, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who continues his family's long tradition of public service, and Jean Becker, the longtime chief of staff to George H.W. Bush, and author of the new book from those who knew and learned from Mrs. Bush titled, "Pearls of Wisdom: Little Pieces of Advice (That Go a Long Way)."

They share stories from Mrs. Bush's eventful life—from leaving a life of East Coast privilege to live next to a brothel in Odessa, Texas, as a young wife and mother, to becoming First Lady in the White House—and discuss the indelible imprint she made on the nation and on those who knew her best.

A Conversation with Dr. David M. Oshinsky Apr 28, 2020

In this episode, we seek to put the current COVID-19 pandemic into perspective by speaking with Dr. David M. Oshinsky.

As the director of the Division of Medical Humanities at New York University, Oshinsky has a direct connection to the medical community in New York City, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. And as the author of several books, including "Polio: An American Story," for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2006, and "Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital," he shares additional insight into how this pandemic compares with those of the past including one of the greatest stories of modern medicine, the roll-out of the polio vaccine.

A Conversation with Ken Burns Apr 26, 2020

This episode features renowned documentarian Ken Burns, one of our nation's most gifted storytellers. As Burns told us, "everybody has a story to tell." In this conversation, we get a glimpse of Burns' own story as he talks about his life and what led him to his indelible career as a filmmaker and chronicler of the American experience.

The conversation took place on April 27, 2017, at the LBJ Presidential Library, where Burns was honored with the LBJ Foundation's Lady Bird Johnson Environmental Award.

A Conversation with Ruth Bader Ginsburg Apr 26, 2020

In this episode, we speak with Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The women's rights legend discusses her nearly 50-year quest for gender equity and how to repair the deep division she sees in America today.

The conversation took place on Jan. 30, 2020, at the Library of Congress, where Justice Ginsburg was honored with the LBJ Foundation's Liberty & Justice for All Award.

*Note on sound quality: While it's hard to beat the beautiful Library of Congress' Great Hall as a venue, the acoustics proved challenging. We hope the sound quality does not dissuade you from listening all the way through as Justice Ginsburg's insight lived up to her "Notorious RBG" moniker.

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