Q&A

"For every young kid that makes a mistake, they can look at Don Scott and say, 'I'll never give up. I can still be what I want to be in America.'" That was former Republican governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia speaking about our guest this week, the state's newly elected Democratic speaker of the House of Delegates. Don Scott talks about the hurdles he overcame, including spending almost eight year...

Charles Scribner III, author of "Scribners: Five Generations in Publishing," talks about his family's history at the famous publishing house that was founded by his great-great-grandfather in 1846. He also shares stories about some of the authors published by Scribner over the decades, including Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Winston Churchill. Learn more about your ad c...

Tech entrepreneur Sebastian Thrun talks about his work in Silicon Valley and the future of artificial intelligence. Thrun, formerly a vice president at Google, is the founder or co-founder of Google X (R&D), Waymo (self-driving cars), Google Brain (AI), Kitty Hawk (flying vehicles), and Udacity (online learning). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ALL NEW EPISODE!!! Retired U.S. Senate Historian Betty Koed shares stories from her book "Scenes: People, Places and Events That Shaped the United States Senate." It's a collection of brief chronicles of Senate history that she presented to Senators during their Tuesday caucus lunches between 2009 and 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are unveiling a brand new Q&A podcast in two weeks, with a new host and all new guests but with the same goal of allowing you to hear from intriguing people who are shaping today's events. But this week, here’s an episode from our After Words podcast from October 2023 with Martin Baron, former executive editor of the Washington Post, on his book Collision of Power. He's interviewed by NPR Media...

Historian Cassandra Good talks about the lives and complicated legacies of George Washington's heirs. George and Martha Washington never had children together, but they raised Martha's children, and later grandchildren, as their own. Together they made up America's first "first family." This program originally aired in June 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist and historian Craig Fehrman analyzes American presidents through the lens of the books they've written. This program originally aired in February of 2020. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week a conversation with the new host of Q&A, Peter Slen. We discuss the mission of the program, what to expect, and the best parts of hosting a one-hour conversation with interesting individuals. All new episodes of Q&A begin on January 28th, 2024. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prosperity gospel scholar, Kate Bowler, discusses her memoir, "Everything Happens for a Reason," in which she reflects on being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and the age of 35. This program originally aired in February of 2018. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Susannah Cahalan discusses her book "The Great Pretender," about a 1973 experiment, led by Stanford psychologist David Rosenhan, that was conducted to test the legitimacy of psychiatric hospitals in America. For the experiment, Prof. Rosenhan and seven other healthy individuals checked themselves into mental asylums claiming that they were experiencing hallucinations. Once inside, they...

Musician and author, Daryl Davis, who, for over 30 years, has befriended members of the Ku Klux Klan to try to understand their hatred and to convince them that they are wrong. He is the author of "Klan-destine Relationships" and was featured in the documentary "Accidental Courtesy." This program originally aired in November of 2017. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your a...

Erik Larson talked about the life of William E. Dodd, who became America's first ambassador to Adolf Hitler's Germany in Berlin during 1933. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesse Holland talked about his book, The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gerald Blaine and Clint Hill, two former Secret Service agents, spoke about the day that President Kennedy was assassinated. They also talked about the assassination’s conspiracy theories and their lives after retirement from the Secret Service.. Gerald Blaine is author of the new book, “The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence.” Clint Hill wrote the prologue for the boo...

Rosemary Stevens talked about her book, A Time of Scandal: Charles R. Forbes, Warren G. Harding, and the Making of the Veterans Bureau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professors Randy Barnett and Evan Bernick talked about their book, The Original Meaning of the 14th Amendment. They argued that the 14th Amendment, which gave the federal judiciary and Congress new powers over the states, has been misinterpreted by conservative and liberal judges alike since its adoption in 1868. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Tom Cronin talked about his book, Imagining a Great Republic, a survey of American novels that have helped tell the story of the American political experiment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Papez talked about the influence of Chief Justice John Roberts and other high-profile chief justices on the direction of the Supreme Court as well as American life. Ms. Papez is a litigator and partner in the firm of Gibson Dunn who previously clerked for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and served as deputy assistant attorney general during the George W. Bush administration.  Learn mor...

Author Amy Zegart tracked the history of American espionage from George Washington’s Revolutionary War spies to today’s digital world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with intelligence officials, she gave an inside look into the world of spies and spy-craft. The Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California hosted this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...

Kevin McCarthy earned a place in the history books this week as the first Speaker of the House to be voted out of office. Just 9 months into his term, Speaker McCarthy was challenged by a "motion to vacate" offered by Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz. McCarthy lost by 6 votes; with all Democrats voting against him.  Kevin McCarthy, a California republican, was the 55th Speaker of the Hous...

In a dip into the Q&A archives, an interview from 2017 with former federal prosecutor and George Washington University Law School professor Randall Eliason. He talked about the 2017 trial of Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and other prominent political corruption cases including Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, Sen Ted Stevens and Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

Colleen Sheehan, Arizona State University Professor, discusses the early life and times of the Federalist's three authors. She explains how their lives challenged their writing and thinking. Plus, their lasting legacy today. In September 1787, the newly drafted Constitution of the United States was sent to the states for ratification. Responding to initial public criticism of the document, Alexand...

Georgetown University law professor Cliff Sloan, author of "The Court at War," talks about the civil rights and civil liberties cases taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court during World War Two and the influence that FDR had on the justices, the vast majority of whom he appointed.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian Richard Striner talks about his book "Ike in Love and War," about the personal life and career of Dwight D. Eisenhower, covering everything from his upbringing and military service to his two-terms as president of the United States. Mr. Striner also talks about the three women Eisenhower fell in love with over his lifetime: Gladys Harding, Mamie Doud (later Mamie Eisenhower), and Kay Sum...

Presidential historian and author Richard Norton Smith discusses his biography of President Gerald Ford titled "An Ordinary Man." He talks about Ford's personal life, anti-establishment politics, and post-presidential years. He also talks about the efforts made by President Ford to heal the country following the Watergate scandal and his controversial decision to pardon Richard Nixon.   Learn more...