The Road to Now
Bob Crawford (The Avett Brothers) & Dr. Ben Sawyer (MTSU History) share conversations with great thinkers from a variety of backgrounds – historians, artists, legal scholars, political figures and more –who help us uncover the many roads that run between past and present. For more information, visit TheRoadToNow.com If you'd like to support our work, join us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheRoadToNow
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The Harlem Globetrotters w/ Ben Green
04/15/2024
The Harlem Globetrotters w/ Ben Green
Ben and Bob are heading to Tallahassee on April 27 for a live recording at Word of South Festival and the show is free! The Harlem Globetrotters are one of those great parts of American culture that almost everyone knows and loves. For most of us today, the Globetrotters are outstanding entertainers. But did you know that in the mid-20th century the Globetrotters were probably the single best basketball team on the planet? Did you know that they did travel the globe as agents of the US Department of State during the Cold War, but that they are not, in fact, from Harlem? If you want to know how all of this happened (and how the Globetrotters saved the NBA), you’re going to love this interview with historian Ben Green on the History of the Harlem Globetrotters. Ben Green is the author of This is a rebroadcast of RTN #56, which originally aired on May 1, 2017. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.
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#303 The Election of 2016 (and Ever After) w/ John Heilemann (Third Party Series #8)
04/08/2024
#303 The Election of 2016 (and Ever After) w/ John Heilemann (Third Party Series #8)
The election of 2016 was a lot of things. It was a showdown between two candidates who had been household names for decades. It was the second time in five elections where the winning candidate lost the popular vote. And, most relevant here, it was eight years ago and one of the candidates in that election is running again in 2024, so we’ve still got a long time before we can see the full impact it had on US history. For now though, we can say that the narrow margin by which Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton has already cast third parties- both candidates and outside actors- as central characters in the narrative of 2016. Did Jill Stein’s Green Party run hand the election to Donald Trump, as some Clinton supporters claim? Is it true that Russia “hacked the election?” Or did the Democratic National Committee’s advocacy for Hillary Clinton deny the party a winning candidate. Let’s try to find out. Welcome to the final installment of The Road to Now’s Third Party Series. Today: the election of 2016 and ever after w/ John Heilemann. John Heileman is a journalist and national affairs analyst for NBC News & MSNBC. You can hear him weekly on his podcast This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#302 The Election of 2000 w/ Doug Heye (Third Party Series #7)
04/01/2024
#302 The Election of 2000 w/ Doug Heye (Third Party Series #7)
Hear the extended version of this episode by supporting The Road to Now on Patreon! On December 13, 2000, Democratic Candidate Al Gore conceded that year’s Presidential Election to Republican George W. Bush. Gore’s concession speech marked a dramatic conclusion to an election that had been contested for more than a month, with partisans from both major parties flocking to Florida to recount ballots in hopes that the few hundred votes that separated the candidates would fall in their favor. Ultimately, however, the final decision on the election came from the Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 to stop the recount, handing Florida’s 25 electoral votes, and thus the Presidency, to George W. Bush who carried the state with just 537 more votes than Gore. The election of 2000 was unusual in several ways. It was the first time an election was decided by a Supreme Court ruling. It was the first election since 1888 in which the winner of the popular vote lost the election. And despite the dramatic scenes that came out of those days between the election and Gore’s concession, and the many passionate criticisms leveled by Democrats- that the electoral college was undemocratic, that the Supreme Court had usurped the election, that voters for Ralph Nader and other third party candidates had handed the election to Bush- few critics pointed to the fact that only 50.3% of eligible voters showed up to the polls- the second lowest turnout in American history. Why was the election of 2000 so uninteresting to so many voters? Why did the Supreme Court decide to intervene in the election, and was it a case of judicial overreach, as so many critics claimed? And in the end, is it fair to say that those who voted for Nader and other third party candidates were the deciding factor in the election? Let’s find out. Welcome to the Road to Now’s Third Party Election Series. Today, part 7: The election of 2000 w/ Doug Heye. Doug Heye is a political commentator who previously served as Communications Director for the Republican National Committee and Deputy Chief of Staff for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. You can follow him on twitter at This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#301 The Election of 1992 w/ Julian Zelizer (Third Party Series #6)
03/25/2024
#301 The Election of 1992 w/ Julian Zelizer (Third Party Series #6)
In 1992, President George Bush’s bid for a second term did not go well. Despite taking 79% of the electoral vote in 1988, holding office during the collapse of communism in Europe, and serving as commander-in-chief during the US victory in the first Iraq War, Bush found himself flanked by a smooth talking former Arkansas governor and a Texas businessman armed with a personal fortune and a lot of charts. When it was all over, Bush had garnered about ten million fewer votes than he had four years earlier and a 12-year run of Republican Presidents was over. How did Bill Clinton manage to beat an incumbent President by so much? Was third-party contender Ross Perot responsible for Bush’s catastrophic loss in 1992, or was it really, as Clinton’s people claimed, “the economy, stupid?” And why did Perot, who at one point looked to be a viable contender, decide to drop out of the race, only to rejoin a few weeks before the election? Let’s find out. Welcome to the Road to Now’s Third Party Election Series. Today: The election of 1992 with Julian Zelizer. is Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs, Princeton School of Public & International Affairs at Princeton University. He is the award-winning author and editor of 25 books including The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society, the winner of the D.B. Hardeman Prize for the Best Book on Congress and Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974, co-authored and Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, The Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#300 The Election of 1980 w/ Rick Perlstein (Third Party Series #5)
03/18/2024
#300 The Election of 1980 w/ Rick Perlstein (Third Party Series #5)
On November 4, 1980, California Republican Ronald Reagan trounced Jimmy Carter at the polls, beating the incumbent by almost 10 percentage points in the popular election and winning 489 of 538 electors. That type of victory combined with Reagan’s larger than life place in modern political history might lead you to believe the 1980 campaign was never in doubt. But it was. And in early 1980, both men faced viable challengers within their own party, as well as a third party candidate whose 5.7 million popular votes could have changed the outcome of a closer election. The Presidential election of 1980 was not just a turning point- it was, in fact, far more interesting than most people give it credit for. Why did Ted Kennedy decide to challenge the sitting President in the Democratic Primary? How did George Bush win 3 of the first seven GOP primaries against the presumed nominee? And why, as his party’s fortunes looked the best they had in years, did Republican hopeful John B. Anderson of Illinois decide to leave the GOP to run a third party campaign? Let’s find out. Welcome to The Road to Now’s Third Party Elections Series. Today: The election of 1980 with Rick Perlstein. is the author of multiple award-winning books, including (2009) and (2021). You can get an extended version of this conversation, extra episodes and more by supporting us on Patreon! This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#299 The Election of 1948 w/ Jefferson Cowie (Third Party Series #4)
03/11/2024
#299 The Election of 1948 w/ Jefferson Cowie (Third Party Series #4)
The famous image of a victorious Harry Truman holding up a newspaper headlined “Dewey defeats Truman” is clear evidence that the 1948 Presidential election did not turn out the way many people had expected. That April, Truman’s approval rating had sunk to 37%, causing even many in his party to consider dumping him from the ballot. That summer, a rebellion by southern Democrats led by South Carolina segregationist Strom Thurmond promised to deny Truman electoral votes that his Democratic predecessors could have counted on for a century. Yet, despite all this, Truman didn’t just win, he won big- finishing 4.5 points and 114 electoral votes ahead of Dewey. How did Truman manage to turn it all around in six months? Who was Thomas E. Dewey and why couldn’t he deliver a win with the wind blowing so hard at his back? And what did southern democrats hope they’d get by giving 39 electoral votes to Strom Thurmond even when he had no chance of winning the national election? Let’s find out. In the fourth installment of our Third Party Elections Series, we talk the election of 1948 w/ Jefferson Cowie. is James G. Stahlman Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. His most recent book, Freedom’s Dominion, A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power (Basic Books) was awarded the 20203 Pulitzer Prize in History. You can hear Jeff discussing Freedom’s Dominion in and his other episodes on and This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#298 The Election of 1912 w/ Michael Patrick Cullinane (Third Party Series #3)
03/04/2024
#298 The Election of 1912 w/ Michael Patrick Cullinane (Third Party Series #3)
The Presidential election of 1912 was an unusual moment in American history. It featured an embattled incumbent President facing criticism from his former allies. It offered voters a choice between the sitting President and his predecessor. And when it was all done, the two men who had previously won the Presidency found themselves bested by a college professor with just a few years of experience in politics. So why did the predecessor, Teddy Roosevelt, become so critical of the incumbent, William Howard Taft, that he decided to break away from the Republican party to run against him? Why did the Democrats pick relative newcomer Woodrow Wilson to be their Presidential Candidate ? And is 1912 an example of how a third-party candidate can spoil an election? Let’s find out. Welcome to The Road To Now’s Third Party Elections Series. Today: Part 3- The Election of 1912 with Michael Cullinane. Dr. Michael Patrick Cullinane is Lowman Walton Chair of Theodore Roosevelt Studies at Dickinson State University and the author of multiple books, including . You can also hear him on his bi-weekly podcast , available anywhere you get The Road to Now. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out our previous episodes in this series: This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#297 The Election of 1860 w/ Michael Green (Third Party Series #2)
02/26/2024
#297 The Election of 1860 w/ Michael Green (Third Party Series #2)
The Presidential election of 1860 is one we Americans know well. That election sent Abraham Lincoln to the White House, southern enslavers to the exit door, and the United States into a bloody Civil War. Lincoln’s leadership in those years and his tragic assassination in the last days of the war propelled the railsplitter into the pantheon of American Presidents. But sometimes we forget that just a few months before the election, Lincoln looked like a long shot. His experience at the federal level amounted to one term in the House of Representatives. His Republican Party, founded in 1854, was only running its second Presidential campaign. And even in victory, Lincoln’s share of the popular vote fell just short of 40%. How did Abraham Lincoln win a resounding victory in the electoral college with a minority of the popular vote? Why did the Democratic Party, which had dominated politics in the previous decade, lose to an upstart rival? And why, in the midst of a fierce battle over American slavery that ultimately broke the country apart, did John Bell – a third party candidate that you’ve probably never heard of – have a reasonable chance of winning the Presidency by skirting the issue all together? Let’s find out. Welcome to The Road To Now’s Third Party Elections Series. Today: Part 2- The Election of 1860 with Michael Green. Dr. Michael Green is Associate Professor of History at UNLV and the author of multiple books on the politics of mid 19th century America, including Lincoln and the Election of 1860 (Southern Illinois University Press, 2011). This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#296 The Election of 1824 w/ Lindsay Chervinsky (Third Party Series #1)
02/19/2024
#296 The Election of 1824 w/ Lindsay Chervinsky (Third Party Series #1)
The Election of 1824 was a turning point in American history. Long before the fall of 1824, Americans understood that the winner would be the first in America’s second generation to hold the Presidency. When the election began, all four viable candidates were technically from the same party. By the time it was over, the election had generated the rivalries and passions that formed the groundwork for a new national party system. How did Andrew Jackson win the most votes in the electoral college and still lose the election? How did John Quincy Adams win the Presidency but ultimately lose the country? And was it all due to a “corrupt bargain” as some critics alleged, or is there more to the story? Let’s find out. Welcome to The Road To Now’s Third Party Elections Series. Today: Part 1- The Election of 1824 with Lindsay Chervinsky. is author of Check out her previous appearances on The Road to Now discussing and This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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The Electoral College w/ Edward Foley
02/12/2024
The Electoral College w/ Edward Foley
The Constitution empowers the electoral college to select the President, but the process for counting electors’ votes remains in the hands of Congress. In this episode, explains the origins of the electoral college, how and why the 12th Amendment changed the process for electing Presidents, and the concerns that led Congress to codify the procedure for counting electors’ votes in 1887. Edward also offers some specific ways that updating the Electoral Count Act of 1887 might help us avoid some of the potential problems that might arise in upcoming elections. Edward Foley holds the Ebersold Chair in Constitutional Law at The Ohio State University, where he also directs its election law program. He is a regular contributor to The Washington Post and the author of multiple books, including (Oxford University Press, 2016) and (Oxford University Press, 2020). You can follow him on twitter at This is a rebroadcast of episode 224, which originally aired on February 22, 2022. We think this is a perfect episode to set up our multi-episode series on contested presidential elections, which kicks off on February 19 (aka Presidents' Day)! Each episode of the series focuses on the years that third party candidates, tense inter-party rivalries and other campaign surprises, both reflected and shaped the country in that year and for generations to come. Bob and I have an all-star lineup of guests, and we’re kicking off with Lindsay Chervinsky on the 1824 election and John Quincy Adams’ Corrupt Bargain! This is a rebroadcast of RTN #224, which originally aired on February 22, 2022. The original episode was edited by Gary Fletcher. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.
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#295 The Pursuit of Happiness w/ Jeffrey Rosen
02/05/2024
#295 The Pursuit of Happiness w/ Jeffrey Rosen
The inalienable right to “the pursuit of happiness” is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, but what exactly does that phrase mean? While Americans today may associate it with the right to own land, opulence or some other act of acquisition, many prominent founders understood it to mean something quite different. In this episode President & CEO returns to the show to give us the full story and discuss his new book The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America. The Pursuit of Happiness will be available on February 13 via all major publishers. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out Jeffrey’s previous appearance on our show in Highlighted Resources from the National Constitution Center – (also available as an app in the apple and android app stores) – podcast (available anywhere you get The Road to Now) – If you’re in Philadelphia, you can visit the National Constitution Center, which is located just steps from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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The Best Stories You've (Probably) Never Heard w/ Greg Jackson
01/29/2024
The Best Stories You've (Probably) Never Heard w/ Greg Jackson
One episode. Two historians/podcasters. Four stories from American history that you’ve probably never heard. And an unknown number of listeners that we hope will find these stories as fascinating and surprising as we do. Greg Jackson is the creator of and a . Ben Sawyer hosts this podcast and has been teaching history at the university level for over a decade and a half. You might think that at this point they’ve heard it all, but when you keep digging into history, it just keeps surprising you. In this episode, Greg and Ben each share two stories that they discovered in the last year that they found to be the most fascinating. Enjoy! This is a rebroadcast of The Road to Now #239, which originally aired on June 27, 2022. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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The FBI w/ Stephen Underhill
01/22/2024
The FBI w/ Stephen Underhill
The FBI has been the subject of criticism and concern since it was founded in 1908, but it has nevertheless become one of the most powerful, stable, and mythologized branches of the Executive Branch of the US government. In this episode, Steve Underhill joins us to discuss the origins of the FBI, the role J. Edgar Hoover played in making the modern Brueau, and how that greater history of the FBI can help us understand how they’ve approached their seizure of documents from Mar-a-Lago and the subsequent attack from Donald Trump. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication Studies at Marshall University, where he studies the rhetoric of law enforcement. His book was published in 2020. This is a rebroadcast of RTN #247, which originally aired on September 19, 2022. The original episode was edited by Gary Fletcher. This reair was edited by Ben Sawyer.
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#294 The Stephen Foster Story w/ Richard Blanton, Donna Phillips & Johnny Warren
01/15/2024
#294 The Stephen Foster Story w/ Richard Blanton, Donna Phillips & Johnny Warren
Stephen Foster was America’s first great published musician. He wrote some of America’s great folk songs, including “Oh, Suzanna,” “Camptown Races” and “Hard Times Come Again No More,” and his music was the inspiration for Paul Green’s play which is performed every summer in Bardstown, Kentucky. In this episode we speak with two of the artists involved in that play- Donna Phillips and Johnny Warren- as well as My Kentucky Old Kentucky Home State Park Mansion Supervisor, Richard Blanton, to learn more about Foster’s life, their work in preserving his memory, and how it all can help us understand our past. If you’re traveling through Kentucky, make sure to check out dates for and visit ! This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#293 New Year, Old Us w/ Ben & Bob
01/08/2024
#293 New Year, Old Us w/ Ben & Bob
Ben & Bob kick off the new year with a conversation over some current events, including the history of New Year’s Resolutions (and why Bob doesn’t make them) and the 14th Amendment, and Ben shares what he learned about North Carolina history during his holiday road trip from Nashville, TN to Concord, NC to visit his family. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher. Relevant links: -“Swept Away w/ John Logan & John Gallagher Jr.” The Road to Now #219 -on -on -
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#292 It’s a Wonderful Life: The Story Behind America’s Favorite Christmas Film w/ Eric Smoodin
12/11/2023
#292 It’s a Wonderful Life: The Story Behind America’s Favorite Christmas Film w/ Eric Smoodin
Dr. , film historian at the University of California- Davis and author of , joins Bob and Ben for the history of the people, the industry, and law that made Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s A Wonderful Life into one of America’s quintessential Christmas films. Ben & Bob are taking a few weeks off for the holidays- we'll be back with all new episodes on January 8! This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
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#291 A Forgotten History of American Suburbs w/ Tim Keogh
12/04/2023
#291 A Forgotten History of American Suburbs w/ Tim Keogh
The suburbs have long been a symbol of American prosperity in the post-WWII era. Yet the contrast between suburban wealth and “inner city” poverty overlooks the stories of those living in suburbia who were unable to reach “the good life.” In this episode Ben & Bob talk with Tim Keogh, whose new book (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2023), explores the history of suburbanization in Long Island, New York, and argues that post-WWII prosperity relied on those impoverished suburbanites who we’ve since forgotten. is assistant professor of history at Queensborough Community College, part of the City University of New York. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
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Photographing the President w/ Pete Souza
11/27/2023
Photographing the President w/ Pete Souza
As the person responsible for documenting the Obama Administration, spent more time with Barack Obama than almost anyone else, which left him with some deep in sights on Obama and the office of the Presidency. In this episode, Pete joins Bob for a conversation about his work as Chief Official White House Photographer, the state of American politics, and the power of photography. Pete’s most recent book, uses photography to contrast the stark differences between the Presidency of Barack Obama and that of Donald Trump. If you enjoy this conversation, make sure to check out Pete’s other appearances on the show in episodes #251 & #151. This is a rebroadcast of RTN #131, which originally aired on June 3, 2019. The original episode was edited by Gary Fletcher and Bob Crawford; this rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.
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Faith in Freedom w/ Andrew Polk
11/20/2023
Faith in Freedom w/ Andrew Polk
Faith has played an important role in American history, but not always in the ways we’d expect. In this episode, Andy Polk joins Bob and Ben to explain how politicians, advertising executives and public relations experts bypassed America’s religious leaders, ignored theological debates, and dismissed historical evidence to fabricate and sell a story of America’s religious origins that served their own political needs. That story remains with us today so, to quote the title of Andy’s op-ed in The Tennessean: is Associate Professor of History at Middle Tennessee State University and the author of the new book, This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher. This is a rebroadcast of RTN #216, which originally aired on December 13, 2021. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.
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#290 The Circus: An Exit Interview w/ Mark McKinnon
11/13/2023
#290 The Circus: An Exit Interview w/ Mark McKinnon
Bob welcomes Mark McKinnon for an exit interview about his work as co-producer and co-host of . Showtime announced last week that after eight seasons and 130 episodes this would be the final season of the political docuseries. Mark reflects on chronicling American political history as it happened from 2016 to 2023, during a turbulent period in American history that includes the rise of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, a once in a century pandemic, and the largest war in Europe since WWII. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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Monsanto’s Past, Our Future w/ Bart Elmore
11/06/2023
Monsanto’s Past, Our Future w/ Bart Elmore
Monsanto’s Past, Our Future w/ Bart Elmore The Monsanto Company officially ceased to exist when it was acquired by Bayer in 2018, but its legacy lives on in courtrooms, factory towns and farms across the globe. Today the company’s name is most associated with the herbicide Roundup and genetically modified seeds, but Monsanto also served as a leading producer of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, an essential supplier of caffeine and saccharin to Coca-Cola in Coke’s early years, and the sole US producer of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). In short, Monsanto’s history is one that will continue to shape the US well into the future. In this episode, Bart Elmore joins Bob and Ben to talk about his new book and how a small midwestern company founded in 1901 became an agricultural powerhouse by selling solutions to the problems it helped to create. is Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University where he specializes in Global Environmental History and the History of Capitalism. He is also the author of the award-winning book (W. W. Norton, 2015). You can follow him on twitter at . You can hear Bart’s other appearances on The Road To Now in episode #140: This is a fully re-edited and audio-enhanced rebroadcast of RTN Episode 208, which originally aired on September 27, 2021. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
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#289 The Dead Bodies in Your Favorite Museum w/ Tanya Marsh
10/30/2023
#289 The Dead Bodies in Your Favorite Museum w/ Tanya Marsh
Two things you probably don’t know: 1) your favorite museum probably holds human remains and 2) it’s completely legal to sell human bones on the internet. Not surprisingly, those two things have caused a lot of controversy. In this episode, Tanya Marsh joins Ben for a conversation about recent developments in the legal-social-political nexus of dead bodies; the controversy surrounding the acquisition and treatment of human remains in American museums and what we’ll simply call “the Harvard morgue case.” Tanya Marsh is Professor of Law at Wake Forest University, where she specializes in the law of human remains. She is the author of (2015) and co-author (with Daniel Gibson) of (2015). This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer. Articles mentioned in this episode:
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#288 Ukraine and Russia: The History Behind the War w/ Serhy Yekelchyk
10/23/2023
#288 Ukraine and Russia: The History Behind the War w/ Serhy Yekelchyk
When Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, he and many others assumed that Russia’s “special operation” would end in a quick victory. Eighteen months later, an independent Ukraine stands strong, while Russia’s position has grown so weak that Why has Ukraine been so resilient, and why has Putin remained committed to a war that has done so much damage to Russia? The answer has everything to do with the ways those on both sides of the conflict understand history. In this episode, historian Serhy Yekelchyk joins Ben to discuss the history of Russia and Ukraine, and how understanding the war on the battlefield requires understanding the conflicting historical narratives embraced by those on both sides. is Professor of History and Slavic Studies at the University of Victoria. A native of Kiev, Serhy has published extensively on Ukranian history, including ) and We’d like to give a special thanks to the Strickland family for establishing the Strickland Distinguished Lecture Series at Middle Tennessee State University, which brought Dr. Yekelchyk to MTSU’s campus, and to Emily Baran and Lynn Nelson for their help in arranging this recording. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#287 Robert Hanssen: The FBI’s Most Damaging Spy w/ Major Garrett
10/16/2023
#287 Robert Hanssen: The FBI’s Most Damaging Spy w/ Major Garrett
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, explores Hanssen’s decision to spy on the US and how he managed to operate for so long without being caught. A thoroughly researched history with all the turns of a great true crime podcast, we think you’ll enjoy Agent of Betrayal, available on , , or anywhere else you get your podcasts. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#286 Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music w/ David Menconi
10/09/2023
#286 Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music w/ David Menconi
From its founding in 1970, Rounder Records was different. What started as the passion project for three New England music lovers who wanted to preserve and proselytize folk and roots music, eventually grew into a record label with an eclectic catalogue featuring long-forgotten bands, promising musicians such as George Thorogood and Allison Krauss, and even an album just called “Hollerin’” (which is exactly what it says it is). Along the way, Rounder Records became indispensable in transforming American folk music. In this episode, we learn more about the history of Rounder Records from author of the new book You can hear David Menconi’s playlist of key tracks from the Rounder catalogue on Spotify This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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#285 The American Buffalo w/ Dayton Duncan
10/02/2023
#285 The American Buffalo w/ Dayton Duncan
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 romanticized frontier and the callous conquest of a continent.” In this episode, Dayton joins us for a conversation about the Buffalo (aka American Bison) and how the story of one animal can tell us so much about American history. Dayton Duncan is an Emmy award-winning writer whose most recent collaborations with filmmaker Ken Burns are the book and the new documentary , which premieres on your local PBS station on Monday, October 16, 2023 (check your local listings). If you enjoyed this episode, check out our previous conversation with Dayton Duncan in This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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# 284 Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell on Americana Music
09/25/2023
# 284 Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell on Americana Music
What is Americana music? Is it a genre? A community? A refuge? Twenty four years after the founding of the and thirteen years since the first Grammy was awarded for Best Americana Album, defining “Americana” remains tricky. In our experience, the most common answer has been “you know it when you hear it.” However you define it, however, there is one thing everyone agrees on: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell are Americana legends. In this episode, recorded in front of a live audience in Nashville, TN, Emmylou and Rodney discuss their musical careers, how they became associated with Americana music, and what Americana means to them. Bob too shares his musical journey both before and after joining the Avett Brothers and the ways that genre (Americana and otherwise) has been part of that story. Bob, Gary and I would like to thank Paul Lohr at New Frontier Touring for helping us get such incredible guests for the show, Adam Botner at Riverside Revival for making both the live show and the audio on this episode sound so good, Austin Sawyer of & for opening the show with their incredible talent, and everyone who came out to make this such a special night. We’d also like to give a special thanks to for helping us prepare for the show. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher. Live audio recording and mixing by Adam Botner.
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Celebrating Levon Helm w/ John Barry & Larry Campbell
09/18/2023
Celebrating Levon Helm w/ John Barry & Larry Campbell
Although he passed away a decade ago, Levon Helm is still the voice of Americana music. Always will be, in my opinion. Levon was drummer for The Band, collaborator with Bob Dylan, actor, husband, father, and friend. In his new book, , author John Barry gives a first-hand account of Levon’s struggles with cancer and financial ruin that led to the legendary Midnight Rambles concerts at his home in Woodstock, New York. On this episode of the Road to Now, Bob celebrates the life of Levon Helm with John, and musician and who has worked with Levon, as well as Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, K.D. Lang, and Willie Nelson.. This is a rebroadcast of RTN #250, which originally aired on October 22, 2022. This rebroadcast was edited by Otto Schroth.
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#283 The Singers Talk w/ Jason Thomas Gordon
09/11/2023
#283 The Singers Talk w/ Jason Thomas Gordon
Jason Thomas Gordon spent nearly a decade interviewing some of the greatest vocalists in modern music to find out about their earliest experiences singing, the voices that influenced them growing up, and how they learned to find their own unique voice. In his new book, The Singers Talk: The Greatest Singers of Our Time Discuss the One Thing They're Never Asked About: Their Voices, Jason shares some of the insights from his conversations with more than seventy artists from diverse genres, including Emmylou Harris, Chuck D, Lionel Ritchie, and Ozzy Osbourne, and where they fit within their generation and in the greater history of music. Jason also shares with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which was founded by his grandfather, Danny Thomas. 100% of the royalties from The Singers Talk will go to , an organization that Jason created to support St. Jude. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
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The Kinks w/ Mark Doyle
09/04/2023
The Kinks w/ Mark Doyle
The Kinks are one of the great rock bands of the 20th century and, like all artists, they reflect the times and places they’ve inhabited. In this episode, we speak with Mark Doyle about his excellent book and how the band, their origins, and Ray Davies’ lyrics reveal a lot about both the real and imagined spaces of mid-20th Century England. is Professor of History at Middle Tennessee State University, where he specializes in the history of the British Empire. His research and teaching have won him numerous awards including the Stansky Book Prize (co-winner, 2017) and MTSU’s Outstanding Teacher Award (2014-15). Ben once described him as “the Patton Oswalt of academic twitter,” so we recommend you follow him there at . We’re excited to announce that Ben & Bob will be recording a live episode of RTN on the history of Americana music in Nashville on September 18, 2023 w/ guests Emmy Lou Harris, Rodney Crowell and Jefferson Cowie! Hope to see you there! This is a rebroadcast of the Road to Now #169, which originally aired on April 27, 2020. This version was fully re-cut and edited by Ben Sawyer.
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