#338 Murder & Mayhem in the Capital City w/ Major Garrett, Doug Heye & Margaret Talev (Live in DC part 1)
Release Date: 06/09/2025
Mourning the Presidents w/ Lindsay Chervinsky
The Road to Now
A Presidency is defined by the decisions that a person makes while serving as Executive, but a Presidential legacy is about much more than that. In Lindsay Chervinsky and Matthew Costello have brought together a collection of chapters that explore the ways that mourning ceremonies, causes of death, and moments of passing impact the way that we remember a President at the time they die, and how new research and a more inclusive understanding of US history have reshaped Presidential legacies in the years that follow. In this episode, Lindsay joins Ben and Bob for a conversation about some of the...
info_outline
Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison’s Struggle for a Nation w/ Peter Stark
The Road to Now
The war between the US Army and the Native American confederation during the war of 1812 is a buried story in an often-overlooked event, yet its impact on the history of North America is profound. The leading figures on both sides of the war, Shawnee Chief Tecumseh and US Army General William Henry Harrison, had come of age in the struggles over what is today called the Midwest United States, and both understood that losing the war would mean losing the future they imagined for their people. In this episode, Ben & Bob do a deep dive on the story behind that war with , author of the...
info_outline
#343 Affordable Housing in Urban America w/ Tom Hanchett
The Road to Now
The affordable housing shortage in many American cities is making urban life more difficult for all of us. But the problem of housing is not a new one, and history has some valuable lessons for those looking for solutions. In this episode, historian joins us to talk about his new book, and the truths, myths, and ironies of government subsidized housing in the United States. If you enjoy this episode, check out Tom’s previous appearances on our show in and This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
info_outline
The American Buffalo w/ Dayton Duncan
The Road to Now
In the late 18th century, tens of millions of buffalo lived in North America. By the mid-1880s, they were on the brink of extinction. For the white settlers who sought to “conquer” the American west, and the Native people whose way of life depended on them, the plight of the American Buffalo was more than a story of one species of animal. As Dayton Duncan writes in the prologue of his new book Blood Memory, the buffalo has “emerged as an embodiment of the nation’s contradictory relationship with the natural world: venerated and mercilessly destroyed, a symbol of both a...
info_outline
The Wide Awakes: The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War w/ Jon Grinspan
The Road to Now
Jon Grinspan has done something remarkable: in his new book, , he tells a thoroughly researched and brilliantly crafted story that may change your understanding of the origins of the American Civil War. In this episode, Jon joins us for a conversation about the Wide Awakes, the anti-slavery youth movement that played an instrumental role in electing Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and took part in some of the first acts of violence between pro and anti-slavery Americans in 1861. Jon also discusses the ways that the past and present interact in powerful ways, and how politics can evolve, step-by-step,...
info_outline
US Diplomacy and the End of the Cold War w/ Jack Matlock
The Road to Now
For half a century, the US-Soviet rivalry pitted the two most powerful nations in human history against one another other in a conflict that had the potential to end civilization. The fact that the Cold War ended without the doomsday scenarios so many had predicted is testament to the power of good diplomacy, and good diplomacy only happens when you have good diplomats. In this episode we speak with , a diplomat whose 35 years in the State Department culminated in his selection by Ronald Reagan to serve as US Ambassador to the Soviet Union in the final years of the Cold War, where he...
info_outline
Robert Hanssen: The FBI’s Most Damaging Spy w/ Major Garrett
The Road to Now
FBI agent Robert Hanssen was one of the most damaging spies in US history. From 1979 to 2001, Hanssen delivered some of the United States governments’ most sensitive secrets to Soviet and Russian agents, who used them to not only undermine US national security, but to identify and execute individuals who were working with the FBI. And despite an awareness of spies working within the FBI, Hanssen managed to operate for more than two decades before finally getting caught. In this episode we speak with CBS News’ , whose new podcast Agent of Betrayal: The Double Life of Robert Hanssen,...
info_outline
#342 Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny w/ Jeff Bieber
The Road to Now
Hannah Arendt witnessed the rise of Nazism in Germany and her groundbreaking works, including The Origins of Totalitarianism, sought to understand how regular people could be seduced by horrendous ideologies such as antisemitism and fascism. In this episode, Ben speaks with documentarian Jeff Bieber, whose new film , documents Adendt’s life as an intellectual, refugee and, eventually, an American citizen whose concerns about power remain as relevant today as they were half a century ago. Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny premiered on PBS on June 27 and For more on Jeff Bieber’s...
info_outline
#341 Native Nations w/ Kathleen DuVall
The Road to Now
joins Ben & Bob for a discussion of her Pulitzer Prize-winning book and how understanding North American history from both Native and non-Native perspectives helps us better understand our shared story. We also discuss her work with Ken Burns on his upcoming documentary on the American Revolution. Dr. Kathleen DuVall is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Previous episodes mentioned in this conversation: - (also available This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer
info_outline
#340 How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Trump w/ Molly Worthen
The Road to Now
Bob speaks with UNC-Chapel Hill historian about her new book Gary Fletcher edited this episode.
info_outlineMajor Garrett (CBS News), Margaret Talev (Syracuse University/Axios) & Doug Heye (too many to list) join Bob & Ben for a conversation about Washington, DC’s long history of scandals and how media has shaped public perceptions of what is/isn’t acceptable in American politics.
The conversation was recorded on May 29, 2025 at The Hamilton Live in Washington, DC. A special thanks to Matt Burton and the crew at The Hamilton for hosting us and to everyone who came out to the show!
If you enjoy this episode, make sure to check out part 2 of our live recording in episode 339 (air date 6/11/25).
This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.