Now & Then

State lawmakers have proposed almost 250 anti-LGBTQ laws in 2022 alone. Why are we seeing such a virulent political backlash to sexual identity? And what can the current vitriol tell us about the entwinement of sexual orientation and politics in American history?  Heather and Joanne discuss the history of categorizing sexual preference, from the relative fluidity of early American sexual choices,...

Senate Republicans have attacked Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson for her past public defense work. How have defense attorneys elicited criticism and praise through American history? Why is the right to counsel so important to democracy?  Heather and Joanne discuss past moments of transition for legal counsel, from John Adams’s representation of British soldiers implicated in the Boston...

The State Department and President Biden have both declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed war crimes in Ukraine. What are the rules of war? What constitutes a war crime? And what consequences might Putin face for the brutality of his invasion? Heather and Joanne look back at the centuries-long quest by world leaders and humanitarians to regulate violence in wartime, from Gene...

What information should a president keep secret? Recently, we’ve seen revelations about former President Trump’s removal of classified materials and a tense exchange about the Biden administration’s handling of intel on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  Heather and Joanne connect these current controversies to historical debates about the balance between statecraft and transparency, from President Ad...

Stories of remarkable heroism by women in Ukraine have captured the imagination of the world over the past few weeks. How have women warriors shaped conversations over gender, violence, and heroism over the course of United States history?  Heather and Joanne discuss the Revolutionary War figures Molly Pitcher and Deborah Sampson, Harriet Tubman’s Civil War spying raids, and Ukrainian sniper Lyudm...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has become a symbol of democracy around the world. What does this mean for the United States? This week, Heather and Joanne look at past foreign and international figures who’ve fought fervently for democratic values and have compelled and challenged Americans.  Heather and Joanne discuss how Zelensky’s current battle against Russia evokes the quests of the F...

Historian Heather Cox Richardson sat down with President Biden last week in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court.  Heather posted the interview on her Facebook and Substack profiles and is sharing it here for the CAFE and Vox Media audience.  Listen to this timely conversation between a historian and a pre...

How do small and extreme groups take over the American political conversation? In this final installment of a three-part series on educating citizens, Heather and Joanne look at how reactionary movements utilize bullying tactics to wrest control from the majority. Heather and Joanne offer a comparison between the path to secession at the start of the Civil War, the rise of American Nazi-sympathizi...

How do small and extreme groups take over the American political conversation? In this final installment of a three-part series on educating citizens, Heather and Joanne look at how reactionary movements utilize bullying tactics to wrest control from the majority. Heather and Joanne offer a comparison between the path to secession at the start of the Civil War, the rise of American Nazi-sympathizi...

Why have public schools become a setting for heated political debates? In this second installment of a special three-part series, Heather and Joanne weigh in on the current nationwide tensions over censorship and parental control in American public schools. Heather and Joanne look back on the founding concepts of American education, the rise of school reformers in the late 19th century, and the de...

Book bans are back. What’s causing this resurgence? What have similar acts of censorship meant throughout American history? And how should concerned citizens respond? In this first installment of a special three-part series, “Bans, Schools, & Power: Book Panics,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman discuss three past book panics: the political uproar over Hinton Helper’s 1857 The Impending C...

What has money meant in American society? On this episode of Now & Then, “The Culture of Cash,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman look at the culture of American currency & capital. They examine attempts in the early republic to create a viable national coinage system, the introduction of greenbacks during the Civil War, the success of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1933 bank holida...

In a special episode of CAFE Insider, former U.S. Attorneys Preet Bharara and Joyce Vance discuss Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement from the Supreme Court, and reflect on his legacy. President Biden now faces the tough question of nominating Breyer’s replacement. Who will it be? What will the confirmation process look like? And what does it mean for the Court? To listen to the full episode for f...

What kinds of events have inspired Americans to become activists? On this episode of Now & Then, “When Americans Can’t Turn Away,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman highlight moments where everyday people have spoken up to defend their rights and those of their neighbors. Heather and Joanne look at the catalyzing effects of the 1779 Battle of New Haven, John Quincy Adams’s 1840s crusade ag...

How should the American government take responsibility for past actions that have caused significant harm? On this episode of Now & Then, “Restitution & Reparations,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman discuss the tangled history of restitution, with a specific focus on how the federal government wronged certain classes of people. They talk through the early debates over slavery reparations...

How have outsider legislators changed American history? On this episode of Now & Then, “The Lure of Political Outsiders,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman discuss the history of the eccentric and anti-establishment members of Congress, from the frontier politics of Jackson-era Tennessee Representative Davy Crockett, to the conspiratorial works of post-Civil War Illinois Representative Ign...

Who are the most relevant and inspiring heroes from American history? On this year-end episode of Now & Then, “Historians Have Their Heroes,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman discuss their definitions of American heroism and the figures–from Ida B. Wells, to Sitting Bull, to Pete Seeger–who they most admire. What attributes do these political and cultural leaders share? What is the point...

How have religion and morality shaped the United States? On this episode of Now & Then, “God & Morality in American Politics,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman discuss how politicians and reformers have interacted with faith systems, from Thomas Jefferson’s push for religious liberty, to the 19th-century move for a Christian constitutional amendment, to the rise of the Moral Majority and...

What damage does disinformation cause our body politic? On this episode of Now & Then, “Disinformation and Democracy,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman trace the history of disinformation in America, with an emphasis on how technology has fueled the rise of misleading and outright false political news. They discuss the role of the partisan press in shaping early American disinformation, t...

As we come out of Thanksgiving and welcome in Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and New Years, we revisit Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman’s look at the American debates that accompanied the creations of July 4th, Columbus Day, and Election Day. Why do Americans celebrate? Why do we fight about our holidays? And what role have economics, popular culture, and governmental politics contoured ou...

How have Americans fought over Thanksgiving? And what can the holiday tell us about democracy and national styles of celebration? On this episode of Now & Then, “Thanksgiving Wars,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman explore past debates over the holiday, from early congressional disputes during the Washington administration, to writer Sarah Josephus Hale’s advocacy to make Thanksgiving a n...

How have American experiences of work changed throughout our history? On this episode of Now & Then, “Mill ‘Girls,’ Company Men, & the Great Resignation,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman discuss the evolution of American work, from the emergence of industrial labor, to the development of welfare capitalism, to the current “Great Resignation” and shifting contemporary expectations for lab...

What’s the history of associations and powerful internal groups in American life? On this episode of Now & Then, “Associations: From the Masons to the Mob,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman discuss the popularity of the Freemasons and other secret clubs among the early national elite, the growth of political machines like Tammany Hall during the 1800s, and the development of organized cri...

On this episode of Now & Then, “Democracy Is In the Mail,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman talk about the development of the post office in American culture. They explain why the Framers believed so deeply in a government-backed mail service, trace how Western expansion changed the culture and organizational structure of the Post Office Department, and recount the 1970 postal strike and...

This week, Heather and Joanne appeared on the food podcast Gastropod, hosted by journalists Cynthia Graber and Nicky Twilley, to discuss the history of Halloween candy, trick-or-treating, and poison candy paranoia. Listen and subscribe to Gastropod at gastropod.com or wherever you get podcasts! Happy Halloween! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices