The Road to Now

Throughout the latter part of the 20th century, Golf developed a reputation as a sport for wealthy white men who gathered at their exclusive country clubs to make business deals over 18 holes of golf, all the while smoking expensive cigars and drinking martinis (you know, like in CaddyShack?). But then, seemingly from out of nowhere, Tiger Woods burst onto the scene, changing the look and style of...

Ben & Bob took a trip to the home of Andrew Jackson, so they took the opportunity to record an episode on their impressions of the Hermitage and why Bob doubts they'll ever have a copy of America's Founding Son in the bookstore. They also talk about Cuba's place in American history and other current events.   Make sure to check out the upcoming AVTT/PTTN tour dates and plan to catch a show if you...

Did you know that the Boston Tea Party was sparked by a corporate tax cut? Or that during the explosive post-WWII economic boom, the highest tax bracket in the US was about 90%? Or that the more democratic a country is, the more taxes its citizens tend to pay? In this episode, Vanessa S. Williamson joins us for a conversation about her new book, The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of T...

Directors Erik Ewers & Christopher Loren Ewers join us to discuss their new film, Ken Burns Presents: Henry David Thoreau . Erik & Christopher talk about their rediscovery of Thoreau's place in American history, their process for capturing his story, and why Thoreau's views of his own time might resonate with those seeking to make sense of the modern world. The two-part series premieres on PBS Mar...

Martin Van Buren served just one term as President from 1837 to 1841, but as the architect behind the founding of the Democratic Party, his legacy lives on in the US today. In this episode, we speak with James M. Bradley, author of the new book Martin Van Buren: America's First Politician , to learn how Van Buren helped reshape politics in the 19 th century and laid the groundwork for America's tw...

Ben & Bob speak with Hans Zeiger, President of the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America's Founding Principles & History. We discuss the work that the JMC is doing to promote teaching the founding principles and civics to Americas young people from kindergarten through college. The JMC will be hosting a National Summit on Civil Education in Philadelphia, May 18-19. Click here for details.   Love...

Bob Crawford's first book has arrived! America's Founding Son : John Quincy Adams from President to Political Maverick launches March 10 via Zando Press and we're celebrating with an episode dedicated to the book. Bob will be speaking about his new at bookstores across the country.  Click here for dates & locations! This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher    

The Oscars hold a special place in popular culture, but the first Academy Awards ceremony, held in 1929, bore little resemblance to the spectacle most of us know today. In this episode, media expert Monica Sandler takes us from that first award ceremony – when both Los Angeles and the films made there struggled for respectability – to the modern extravaganza that draws tens of millions of viewers...

Since opening in 2019, the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame (FARHOF) has worked to preserve and share the rich heritage of American music with the people of Boston and the world. In this episode Ben & Bob speak with FARHOF founder, Joe Spaulding, and J. Casey Soward, President of the Boch Center, which hosts FARHOF in Boston's Wang Theater.   To learn more about FARHOF, make sure to visit their w...

The Stone Pony and its hometown of Asbury Park, New Jersey are iconic settings in the story of some of America's greatest rock musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, and Southside Johnny Lyon. The Pony's path from high-risk passion project to iconic venue was, however, anything but direct; from its founding in 1974, the club was caught in the greater forces at work in late-20 th...

Having recently been hit with winter storms, Ben & Bob catch up to talk about the literal and figurative slippery roads all around us. The conversation covers talking politics when we don't agree, the Epstein files and more. We also talk about one of the more exciting events on the horizon: Bob's new book, America's Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick, which drops...

Most Americans are aware of Colombia's role in the international drug trade, but we know less about the role that Americans' played in the story as consumers, smuggling pioneers, and practitioners of a foreign policy that facilitated the rise of Colombian drug production.   In this episode, journalist and historian Lina Britto shares the fascinating story of how Colombia emerged as a major supplie...

In just five years, the story of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US capitol has already seen more bad faith reinterpretations than most events get over the course of generations. Fortunately, Mary Clare Jalonick has brought a diverse set of voices together in her new book, Storm at the Capitol: An Oral History of January 6 th (PublicAffairs, 2026) . In this episode, Mary joins us to talk a...

The Trump administration's decision to depose Nicolas Maduro and take control of Venezuela's natural resources may have been rash, but to those familiar with the history of US-Latin American relations, it looks familiar. In this episode, Naval War College Associate Professor of Strategy & Policy, Michelle Paranzino , joins us to break dow n the greater history of US foreign policy in Latin America...

The Monroe Doctrine has provided Presidents and foreign policy leaders with the rhetorical justification for their actions going back as far as James K. Polk, but the symbolic power attributed to the doctrine is far more substantial than the impact it had when it was published in 1823. In this episode, historian Jay Sexton walks us through the evolution of the Monroe Doctrine in political rhetoric...

Worried about money in American politics? We are too, and Jeff Clements is offering up a solution. Jeff is CEO of American Promise , a non-partisan organization dedicated to passing the For Our Freedom amendment to the Constitution, which would differentiate between people and corporations, and allow states to pass their own campaign finance laws. In this episode, he breaks down the history of cam...

  Anita McBride is one of the foremost experts on the legacy of American first ladies. Colleen Shogan served as the 11 th Archivist of the United States. Together, they're bringing forward a new project called In Pursuit , which offers up a series of essays on Presidents and First Ladies by some of today's most accomplished historians and political leaders. In this episode, Anita and Colleen join...

John Adams' single term as President has long been cast as a low point in his political career, but Lindsay Chervinsky sees it differently. "George Washington created the Presidency," she writes in her new book Making the Presidency, "but John Adams defined it."   In this episode, Lindsay joins us to share why she sees Adams as a crucial figure in transforming an office that had been established f...

What is Americana music? Is it a genre? A community? A refuge? Twenty four years after the founding of the Americana Music Association and thirteen years since the first Grammy was awarded for Best Americana Album, defining "Americana" remains tricky. In our experience, the most common answer has been "you know it when you hear it."   However you define it, however, there is one thing everyone agr...

A decade after Ken Burns decided it was time to take on the American Revolution, the film is finished and premieres on your local PBS station on Sunday, November 16! In this episode, we talk with Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt , who directed the six-part series alongside Burns, to find out more about the stories and process that they used to construct this remarkable look at one of history's mos...

Wakara was a Ute leader whose power stretched across western North America long before the US claimed the land on which he lived. In this episode, Max Perry Mueller joins us to discuss his new book, Wakara's America: The Life & Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West , and how a story of the west that excludes Native peoples leaves us with an incomplete and often dishonest account of US hi...

America's bookstores have always been about more than just books, but the role they play in American society has changed over the years. In this episode, Evan Friss joins us for a conversation about his New York Times Bestseller, The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore (Viking, 2023), and the unique place that bookstores – and those who operate them – have held in American society from t...

National Constitution Center President & CEO Jeffrey Rosen returns to the show to discuss his new book The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America , and the ways that the contrasting visions of the founders live on in our political debates today.   Make sure to check out the National Constitution Center's website for links to the Interactive...

Teaching history to a middle schooler is a very different task than teaching a university student, but those doing the teaching have a lot in common (and could probably learn a lot from each other). In this episode, recorded as part of a live event sponsored by the Tennessee Council for History Education , Ben is joined by his MTSU colleague (and friend of the show) Andy Polk, 6 th grade teacher R...

The War on Terror that followed the 9/11 attacks took place on battlefields across the globe, but it also took place in our legal system. In this episode, CNN's Jake Tapper joins us to discuss his new book, Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War , and how dedicated public servants saved countless lives by bringing a terrorist to justice.   This episode was e...