Founding Fictions

We all know the slogan "No taxation without representation," but what if the American Revolution wasn't just a political dispute, but a violent economic divorce? This episode argues that the Founders weren't just fighting a king; they were fighting an entire economic system called Mercantilism. We trace the story from a furious smuggler's riot on the Boston docks to a calm philosophical dinner in...

This episode of "Founding Fictions" challenges the myth that America's founding ideals were a simple inheritance from English thinkers like John Locke. Instead, it reveals the overwhelmingly Scottish roots of the revolution, tracing two powerful streams that converged in the colonies. The first is the moral philosophy of the Scottish Enlightenment (Francis Hutcheson, Thomas Reid), which provided a...

Host Elle Van Gundy addresses the "heavy history" of Thanksgiving and how to move from passive guilt to active responsibility. Centering the Ohenten Kariwatekwen (Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address) as a transformative framework, this episode outlines four practical steps to "decolonize" the holiday: educating oneself with Indigenous scholarship, performing meaningful land acknowledgments, reframi...

For nearly two centuries, the "First Thanksgiving" was a lost footnote in history. So how did a forgotten diplomatic meeting in 1621 become the mandatory national dinner we know today? In this episode, we peel back the layers of America’s favorite feast. We travel from the 17th-century mud of Plymouth to the industrial clamor of the 19th century to meet the "Godmother of Thanksgiving"—the magazine...

​Join host Elle Van Gundy as she strips away the construction paper feathers and pious legends to reveal the desperate reality of the "First Thanksgiving." In this first installment of a two-part special, we travel back to 1621 to discover that the famous feast wasn't about friendship—it was about survival. ​From the devastation of the "Great Dying" plague to the cold political calculus of Massaso...

The turkey is back on the table, but can we trust the hand that serves it? In this episode, we dissect the "peace treaty" that ended the 2025 crisis. From the starvation tactics of Jamestown to the rebellion of Daniel Shays, discover why the return of SNAP benefits marks the end of the shutdown—but the beginning of a new, dangerous era for the Constitution.

Is the G.I. Bill a monument to national gratitude, or a calculated shield against revolution? In this episode of Founding Fictions, Elle Van Gundy peels back the sentimental layers of veterans' affairs to reveal a colder, more pragmatic history. ​We trace the lineage of the Department of Veterans Affairs not to a sense of charity, but to the survival instincts of empires. From the private armies t...

​Why is the American system for veterans built on anxiety rather than just gratitude? Host Elle Van Gundy peels back the layers of the "Standing Army" myth, connecting the near-mutiny of the Newburgh Conspiracy in 1783 to Eisenhower's modern warning about the Military-Industrial Complex. Discover how the Founders' fear of their own troops—and the dramatic moment George Washington saved the republi...

Why does American political debate feel less like a discussion and more like a fight for survival? This deep dive traces modern affective polarization back to the nation's origin, revealing how the historic, existential feud between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson established a zero-sum political culture. The episode examines how the Founding Fathers’ fear of factions and the initial absen...

This deep dive dismantles the fiction of the founders as a "uniform front." The real story is the bitter rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, which defined America's core conflict: federal power versus states' rights. ​This famous dichotomy, however, was built on a "Great Contradiction." Both of their competing philosophies depended on slavery and the systemic dispossession of...

This isn't your standard history lesson on the Declaration of Independence. We're treating the founding document not as a relic, but as a living "playbook"—a diagnostic tool for identifying the step-by-step process of tyranny. ​By applying the founders' 18th-century logic to modern issues, this episode explores what the Declaration's grievances reveal about today's political landscape. We investig...

The 27 Grievances in the Declaration of Independence had a clear target. Today, our crises are diffuse, and accountability seems to vanish. ​This episode contrasts the 18th century's radical claim of responsibility with our 21st-century search for it. We explore why the most important question has become "Who is liable?" and argue that the only way forward is to stop searching for responsibility a...

Don't just read the Declaration of Independence—decode it. This episode dives past "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" into the 27 grievances, revealing them as a systematic "playbook for tyranny." We trace the five phases of the King's "design" to establish absolute despotism, from neutralizing the legislature to waging war. Then, we show how this "diagnostic tool" became the blueprint...

Does the modern US government mirror the "tyranny" of King George? This episode uses the Declaration's grievances as a lens, comparing "swarms of officers" and "taxation without consent" to today's administrative state and executive power. We explore the Founders' constitutional "antidote" and the one thing Washington warned could destroy it all: the "spirit of party."