The Preamble

What is it like to transition from one of the most powerful positions in the world, to that of an ordinary citizen? Sharon is joined by presidential historian and New York Times bestselling author, Jared Cohen, to share about what happens when presidents – at the pinnacle of their prestige and influence – leave office. What can we learn about human nature and building a legacy from these past poli...

We’ve heard it before: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But what did the nation’s Founders mean when they identified “the pursuit of happiness” as an unalienable right? And what role does moral philosophy play in understanding the virtues that accompany the pursuit of happiness? Today we’re joined by Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, to explore these...

What makes a real hero? From Amelia Earhart, to Abraham Lincoln, to Jane Goodall, there are some names we all know – and with good reason. When today’s guest, author Brad Meltzer, became a father, his writing career took a turn. In a world of TikTok stars and YouTube influencers, he wanted a book series for children that set apart the character of true heroes, from those who are out for fame. Join...

It was supposed to be a picturesque and luxurious sightseeing tour over Antarctica. One filled with wonder and awe, in a tour that had cultivated a reputation for giving passengers the “trip of a lifetime.” But what began as an adventurous flight near Mt. Erebus, the southernmost active volcano in the world, became one of New Zealand’s most catastrophic accidents. What really happened? And who was...

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“You are now leaving Iranian air space!” It was a moment that dozens of hostages and their loved ones longed for with bated breath, for 444 days. Freedom. To be released, and returned home. The Iranian hostage crisis captured the attention of the world, but how did we get there? President Jimmy Carter was in Iran for a New Year’s celebration in 1978, and his infamous toast would have become a vira...

A religious leader with a raging drug addiction who led his following to a tragic end. A President with the hope of finding peace between Israel and Egypt. And a politician who was pivotal to the early LGBTQ+ rights movement, and lost his life in the process. Join us as we explore the stories of three men in 1978 who all had specific visions of the world, and the reality of those visions coming to...

Did you know that Star Wars almost started a war in real life, over a sandcrawler model? Would the film have been so wildly successful if someone else had been cast in the role of Han Solo, such as – let’s say – Christopher Walken? How would a band today be received if their drug use was so integral to their music, that they considered thanking their dealer in the liner notes? And let’s take that...

A happenstance introduction to Charles Manson. Assassination attempts against President Ford– a man who was never elected to the vice presidency or presidency. And the kidnapping of college student and newspaper heiress, 19-year-old Patty Hearst, that rocked the nation. Following Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Vietnam war, the country was in freefall. When, and how, did the U.S. begin to m...

Draft dodging. When did the draft lottery begin for the war in Vietnam, and who among America’s youth was hit the hardest? It was an unwinnable war, and thousands of high school graduates and college students refused to comply. What sparked these explosive protests nationwide? What role was marijuana and heroin playing back in Vietnam? And how did two decades of the costly, divisive conflict final...

It was the worst attack on the US Capitol in modern American history. What was it like to be on Capitol Hill and be in the White House through that tumultuous time? Sharon is joined by Cassidy Hutchinson, former special assistant to President Donald Trump and his chief of staff, Mark Meadow, who was an integral witness in the January 6th hearings. Cassidy shares her personal experience in her book...

A cover up that cost Nixon's presidency, a pardon that cost Gerald R. Ford his election, and a friendship dating back to the 1940s. It was the first time a President had been impeached, and the only time in U.S. history that a President resigned from office. The betrayal of the public’s trust reverberated well beyond Nixon’s presidency in a time of economic turmoil, but what happened following Nix...

The right to privacy, a 22-year-old who went by the pseudonym “Jane Roe,” and one of the most famous court cases in United States history. Join us as we learn what happened leading up to Roe v. Wade, the fate of Norma McCorvey following the Supreme Court’s ruling, and how this piece of history echoes in the present day. That is not the only ghost of 1973 history that is still relevant, though. If...

What does it mean to be on the right side of history? That was a question today’s guest, Adam Kinzinger, asked himself when he chose to serve on the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol. Kinzinger joins Sharon to discuss his experience serving on the committee to defend democracy, and the personal sacrifice tied to prioritizing principals over p...

Deep Throat, Operation Gemstone, two valiant reporters, and a secret 30 years in the making. Watergate was not a single scandal, but rather an avalanche of events and co-conspirators, all engaged in corruption to keep President Nixon in office. The stakes were so high that Nixon’s Special Security Advisor, G. Gordon Liddy, lived under fear of being assassinated, and the wife of Nixon’s Campaign Di...

“The week that changed the world.” Was it a chance encounter at the World Tennis Championship in 1971, “Panda diplomacy” between the U.S. and Communist China, or a break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters by a team of 5 burglars, that drastically altered the trajectory of world history? It was around this time that the Women’s Equity Action League also filed one of the farthest reaching Cl...

Secret Police, CIA operatives, The Pentagon Papers, and The Most Dangerous Man in America. There was a time in the not-so-distant past, when the nightly news changed the game in how Americans felt about the war in Vietnam, the first “television war.” What was more of a shock to some though, was the realization that the American public had been lied to for decades by the U.S. government, spanning f...

Welcome to our new series, Mayhem: The 1970s You Never Knew. Over the next few weeks we’ll take a journey through the Decade of Defiance, with all its scandals and secrets.  As the decade devolved into war at home and abroad, Apollo 13 flew high above earth with the hope of landing safely on the surface of the moon. But then: disaster struck, and time was on no one’s side. Meanwhile, thousands of...

Today on Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon welcomes back close friend and CEO, Nicole Walters, to share all about her captivating memoir, Nothing Is Missing. The daughter of Ghanaian immigrants, Nicole writes about her experience growing up in America through the lens of a different kind of American dream, both in how she was raised, and by forging her own path as a TV personality, motivati...

Joining Sharon today is Mike Rothschild: journalist, author, and conspiracy theorist expert who dives deep into the history of conspiracy theories over the last two centuries. In his new book, Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theories, Mike Rothschild – who is of no relation to the Rothschilds family referred to in the book – shows how many conspiracy theories today...

On today’s episode, Sharon welcomes NPR’s Steve Inskeep, who has written a number of books about history including his newest release, Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America. In a time when it’s common to cancel or cut ties with those we disagree with, what can we learn from Abraham Lincoln about how to disagree fundamentally, while maintaining the relationship? Even when at od...

Joining Sharon on the podcast today is well-known reporter Taylor Lorenz, who has written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, covering technology from the user perspective as an authority on Internet culture. In her new book, Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet, Taylor takes a nostalgic trip down memory lane beginning with the...

Joining Sharon today is comedian and author Maria Bamford, who shares the hometown of Duluth, Minnesota. Together, they discuss how Maria began her career as a comedian, and dive into her book: Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere. In this delightful conversation, they playfully banter about the irony of fundraising benefits, what makes one suscept...

Sharon welcomes back political historian, author, and professor Heather Cox Richardson, one of our most popular podcast guests of all time, who has a new book out: Democracy Awakening. Taking a different approach to this book from her previous work, Heather answers some of the big picture questions – once and for all – that readers have asked for years, relating directly to America’s current stand...