For the Ages: A History Podcast

The US’s entrance into World War I marked the beginning of a period in American history characterized by lynching, aggressive union-busting, mass civilian arrests, and stringent government censorship of the press, all amidst the backdrop of the war, a pandemic, and the specter of the Russian Revolution. In this first of two discussions, Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight: The Great War,...

Roger Lowenstein once again joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss the complex financial circumstances of the Civil War. In this episode, he explores the financial challenges faced by the Confederacy; looking at the resources they had available to them compared to the North, how they envisioned global trade impacting their cause, and how the desire to preserve the institution of slavery influenced b...

For both the Union and the Confederacy, one of the most persistent battles of the Civil War was financing. To meet this challenge head-on both Lincoln and Jefferson Davis attempted a number of strategies to tackle the enormous financial demands of their armies, subsequent gold shortages, and an evolving diplomatic landscape abroad. In this first of two talks, David M. Rubenstein is joined by Roger...

How was slavery written into America’s founding? David M. Rubenstein is once again joined by historian Edward J. Larson to discuss this question and explore how legal frameworks around slavery evolved in the new republic. Looking at the battle between the new country’s pro- and anti-slavery leaders, the Treaty of Paris, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention, and the Bill of...

While the Revolutionary War was waged as a fight for freedom, slavery was omnipresent in America before, during, and after the war. In this two-part conversation, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson discusses how the twin strands of liberty and slavery were joined in the nation’s founding and the limits of the Founders’ conception of freedom. In this episode, Larson delves into the o...

In an age of global economic transformation, what lessons can we learn from the world’s most successful investors? Throughout his career, David M. Rubenstein, co-founder of one of the world’s largest investment firms, has interviewed some of the most internationally respected investors and business leaders to gain insight into their time-tested principles and hard-earned wisdom. From venture capit...

Author Walter Russell Mead joins David M. Rubenstein once again to examine the connections between Israel, the Jewish people, and American political history. In this conversation, they dive into the history of Jewish people in America, including their experience of the Civil War and World War II, and discuss the rise of an Israel lobby in US politics, the influence of the Cold War, and the role of...

The nuances of the Israeli-American relationship extend far into the past. Author Walter Russell Mead joins David M. Rubenstein for a two-part conversation to examine the connections between Israeli and American political history. This first of two episodes examines the origins of American support for Israel inside and outside of the Jewish community, the role of antisemitism and American isolatio...

Edna Greene Medford, professor of history at Howard University, examines the ideas and events that shaped President Lincoln’s responses to slavery, following the arc of his ideological development from the beginning of the Civil War, when he aimed to pursue a course of noninterference, to his championing of slavery’s destruction before the conflict ended. Throughout this conversation, Medford juxt...

A president who governed a divided country has much to teach us in a twenty-first-century moment of polarization and political crisis. Hated and hailed, excoriated, and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when implacable secessionists gave no quarter in a clash of visions bound up with money, race, identity, and faith. Celebrated historian and writer Jon Meacham joins Da...

Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental historian Jack E. Davis once again joins David M. Rubenstein to dive deep into the history, and patriotic symbolism of the bald eagle. In this talk, they discuss how the bald eagle came to be tied to American identity and government, the importance of bald eagles in Native American cultures, and how modern conservation efforts arose despite hunting of bald eagl...

Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental historian Jack E. Davis delves into the story of America’s most famous bird: the bald eagle. In conversation with David M. Rubenstein, Davis explores the story of the bald eagle as a unique and efficient predator predating colonization, a national symbol omnipresent in American art, architecture, and archives, and a species twice pushed to the brink of extincti...

Admiral William H. McRaven once again joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss some of his most historic military missions as a member of the Navy SEALs and as commander of America’s Special Operations Forces. In this conversation, he outlines his involvement in one of the most famous military missions in recent memory: the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad. Starting with the discovery...

In the first of two conversations centered on his book Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations , Admiral William H. McRaven joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss how growing up the son of a fighter pilot and a Texas schoolteacher led to his military career in the Navy SEALs and the capture of Saddam Hussein. Covering his time in the ROTC, his training upon joining the Navy SEALs, his experience...

New York Metropolitan Museum of Art President and CEO Dan Weiss explores the American experience of the Vietnam war through the lens of Michael O’Donnell. O’Donnell, a musician and poet who served as a soldier and helicopter pilot, never fired a shot in Vietnam but eventually went missing in action following an attempt to rescue fellow soldiers under heavy fire. His poetry and his story survived h...

While COVID-19 caused tragedy and disruption in ways that few had ever seen before, scientists and infectious disease experts had warned of the likelihood of the ‘next big’ pandemic for decades. While political and economic interests often took precedence over the bolstering of resources to fight the spread of new diseases, the scientific community nonetheless rallied to fight the COVID-19 virus e...

There’s a common story we tell about America: that our fundamental values as a country were stated in the Declaration of Independence, fought for in the Revolution, and made law in the Constitution. But, with the country increasingly divided, are cracks in this narrative beginning to show? Law professor Kermit Roosevelt III argues for a reinterpretation of the American story, that our fundamental...

U.S. Congressman John Lewis (1940–2020) dedicated his life to public service and the pursuit of civil rights. A member of Martin Luther King Jr.’s inner circle, Lewis channeled his faith in humanity and in God to champion nonviolence as not only a tactic but a philosophy to achieve positive change and appeal to the best qualities of the American spirit. Drawing on decades of interviews with Lewis,...

The peaceful transfer of power from one U.S. President to another is the most delicate and hazardous period in the entire political cycle. Americans learned the stakes in 2020, when President Donald Trump’s refusal to trigger the formal start of the transition process to President-Elect Joe Biden created perhaps the worst crisis for American democracy since the Civil War. In a conversation with Da...

Tom Brokaw, one of the most respected and trusted figures in U.S. broadcast journalism—best known for his more than 20-year tenure as managing editor and sole anchor of NBC Nightly News—joins David M. Rubenstein for an in-depth conversation on his prolific life and career delivering the news to millions of Americans. Recorded on November 27, 2017 

Acclaimed historian Annette Gordon-Reed is renowned for her work uncovering both the political and the private life of one of America’s most celebrated Founders, Thomas Jefferson. In a conversation moderated by American philanthropist David M. Rubenstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family looks at the enigmatic third President’s vision of himself,...

On the evening of December 12, 2000, following weeks of confusion surrounding the outcome of the recent presidential election, the Supreme Court handed down its decision to halt further vote counting in Florida, thus confirming the electoral victory of George W. Bush. Looking at the context of the 2020 election, what constitutional protections and loopholes exist pertaining to the presidential ele...

Billie Jean King—former No. 1 tennis player in the world and the first female athlete and first member of the LGBT community to be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom—speaks with David M. Rubenstein about her iconic life and career, highlighting pivotal moments including her historic victory in the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” match and underlining her mission to incorporate equality into...

How has global perception of the United States shifted since the end of the Cold War? Once seen as a dominant international leader, the country’s reputation has evolved into that of a disorganized entity, seemingly unwilling to accept the mantle of leadership. In an insightful discussion with David M. Rubenstein, bestselling author and former secretary of defense Robert M. Gates uses his firsthand...

In a tale ranging from Lee’s wealthy but scandal-ridden upbringing in Virginia to his long career in the U.S. Army, award-winning historian Allen C. Guelzo takes a hard look at Lee’s character, including his deceptively genteel demeanor and corrosive insecurities. Discover what led Lee to the treasonous fight for slavery that continues to sow division in American society today. Recorded on March 3...