Journalist Adam Chandler argues that hard work is not enough to obtain the American dream. He's interviewed by author Alissa Quart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell has spent 40 years in the United States Senate, 17 of those as leader of his Republican colleagues. That's the longest any senator has been at the top of the leadership rung in either political party. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) was elected a few weeks ago to head up the Republican majority in the Senate in 2025. Journalist Michael Tackett's book, a profile of Senator McConnell, is called "The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, a...
Stuart Eizenstat, former Domestic Policy Adviser to President Carter and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union under President Clinton, talks about his political career and his new book, "The Art Of Diplomacy," in which he discusses the work done to achieve agreements like the Camp David Accords, the Kyoto Protocols, and the Iran nuclear agreement. Mr. Eizenstat also talks about growing up in the South during the Civil Rights Era and how that experience changed him. Learn more about your ad choi...
Congressman Mark Green (R-TN) discusses division in America and the advantages of putting others before self. He's interviewed by Military Times deputy editor Leo Shane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Brion McClanahan has a PhD in history from the University of South Carolina. Several years ago, he wrote a book titled "9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America: And Four Who Tried to Save Her." His view on the presidency is not the traditional one you get from most historians. On the back of his book, published by Regnery History, the liner notes claim: "The worst presidents are the ones who want to 'reform' the country through the power of the federal government, which usually means usurping the po...
"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 years in prison, to become Virginia's first Black speaker in 405 years. Learn more about your ad choices...
In his latest book, "LBJ & McNamara," Peter Osnos's dedication reads this way: "To those on the Vietnam Wall on the Mall and their countless Vietnamese counterparts. It did not have to happen." In his role as publisher at PublicAffairs Books, Osnos spent numerous hours working with former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara for his 1995 book, "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam." Osnos writes: "This book describes what happened in the years between 1963 and McNamara's last day a...
Since its founding in 1992, the Innocence Project has been responsible for getting hundreds of wrongfully convicted people in the United States out of prison. Attorney and Innocence Project executive director Christina Swarns joins us to talk about the history of the organization, the root causes of wrongful convictions, and some of the clients the Innocence Project has successfully represented over the years, including the two men convicted of killing of Malcolm X in 1965. Learn more about your...
Andy Puzder, former CEO of CKE Restaurants, took a critical look at stakeholder capitalism, which he argues is a form of socialism that will hurt the middle and lower classes in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In an earlier conversation in this series, Evan Thomas discussed his 1986 book, "The Wise Men." There were 6 of them: Messrs. Acheson, Bohlen, Harriman, McCloy, Lovett, and Kennan. In this episode, we asked Edward "Ted" Aldrich to discuss his book titled "The Partnership: George Marshall, Henry Stimson, and the Extraordinary Collaboration That Won World War II." Mr. Aldrich writes: "FDR paired Stimson, as Secretary of War, with Gen. George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the Army, in the summer of 1...
New York City real estate developer Larry Silverstein, author of "The Rising," shares stories about the rebuilding of the World Trade Center complex following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mr. Silverstein - who acquired a 99-year lease on the World Trade Center just weeks before the attacks - talks about his memories from that day and discusses the business, political, and engineering challenges he faced during his 20-year rebuilding effort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...
Economist and investment advisor James Rickards spoke about the potential threats that AI poses to the global economy and national security. He was interviewed by George Mason University Distingushed University Professor J.P. Singh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
James M. Bradley's biography of Martin Van Buren is the first full-scale portrait of the 8th president in 4 decades. Mr. Bradley is co-editor of the Martin Van Buren papers and teaches in the public history program at the State University of New York at Albany. In his introduction, he writes: "As this biography will show, reaching the nation's highest office was not Van Buren's greatest achievement. He built and designed the party system that defined how politics was practiced and power wielded ...
Twenty-five years ago, author Malcolm Gladwell published "The Tipping Point," about how ideas and behavior spread in a society to create positive change. The book was an international bestseller, having since sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. alone. In his follow-up, "Revenge of the Tipping Point," Mr. Gladwell looks at the downside of social epidemics, including the rise of opioid abuse and Medicare fraud. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Journalist T.J. English spoke about the rise and fall of "Los Muchachos," one of the most successful cocaine empires in U.S. history. He was interviewed by author and Brookings Institution senior fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Well-Read Black Girl founder Glory Edim discussed the book club she began in 2015 to celebrate black, brown and indigenous women. She also discussed her latest book, "Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books that Saved Me." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A book called "The Wise Men" was first published in 1986. The cover copy says that "it was about six friends and the world they made." The names Harriman, Lovett, Acheson, McCloy, Kennan, and Bohlen are only to be found in the history books today. Co-authors Evan Thomas and Walter Isaacson were in their mid-thirties. In the updated 2012 introduction to the paperback, they wrote: "In their time, the wise men operated largely behind the scenes, little known by the public, but they achieved great t...
Half Jewish and a member of the Hitler Youth who saw Adolf Hitler in person, Jochen "Jack" Wurfl, author of "My Two Lives," talks about surviving in Nazi Germany and his later life and success in the United States. To hide their identities after the Nazis took over in 1933, Mr. Wurfl and his brother were baptized Catholic and later joined the Hitler Youth. His Catholic father, deemed a political enemy by the state, was sent to a concentration camp in Austria, while his Jewish mother was arrested...
According to professor Corey Brettschneider, author of "The Presidents and the People," the following presidents in history threatened democracy: "John Adams waged war on the national press…prosecuting as many as 126 people who dared criticize him…James Buchanan colluded with the Supreme Court to deny constitutional personhood to African Americans….Andrew Johnson urged violence against his political opponents…Woodrow Wilson nationalized Jim Crow by segregating the federal government…Richard Nixo...
Peggy Noonan, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Wall Street Journal and former speechwriter for President Reagan, discusses her book "A Certain Idea of America," a collection of her columns from over the past quarter century. She also talks about her time working in the White House and her career in radio after graduating from college. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Stephanie Gorton looked at the lives & rivalry between two key figures in the early movement for birth control & reproductive rights. She was interviewed by author and UC Davis School of Law professor Mary Ziegler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Talmage Boston considers himself a full-time lawyer and a full-time historian. His latest book is called "How the Best Did It: Leadership Lessons from Our Top Presidents." He chose the first 4 of 8 off the face of Mount Rushmore: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. In addition, Mr. Boston chose 24 distinct leadership traits he says were exhibited by these presidents. The other 4 presidents include FDR, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reaga...
Investigative journalist Maureen Callahan talks about the physical and psychological abuse, and worse, that she says was experienced by women and girls connected to the Kennedy family going back to Joe Kennedy, Sr. In her book, "Ask Not," Callahan tells the stories of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, Martha Moxley, Mary Richardson Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, and others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Journalist Vince Beiser looked at how the race to mine metals and other natural resources needed in technology & renewable energy is impacting geopolitics and the environment. He was interviewed by Wall Street Journal global metals and mining reporter Julie Steinberg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bestselling author James Patterson discusses servicemembers from World War II through modern conflicts who have been recognized for valor in combat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The title of the book is "In This Economy?" The author, Kyla Scanlon, subtitles her 277-page effort: "How Money and Markets Really Work." Ms. Scanlon is a 27-year-old graduate of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. The author description in the back of the book says Kyla Scanlon is a writer and a video creator focused on "human-centric economic analysis that demystifies the complex." The author background note continues: "She is the founder of the financial education company called Bre...
Stuart Eizenstat, former Domestic Policy Adviser to President Carter and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union under President Clinton, talks about his political career and his new book, "The Art Of Diplomacy," in which he discusses the work done to achieve agreements like the Camp David Accords, the Kyoto Protocols, and the Iran nuclear agreement. Mr. Eizenstat also talks about growing up in the South during the Civil Rights Era and how that experience changed him. Learn more about your ad choi...
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton argues that the Left is attacking American rights and freedoms. He was interviewed by Washington Times legal affairs reporter Alex Swoyer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
For the past 10 years, Tess Owen has covered extremism, disinformation, and politics for several nationally owned publications. In the October 8, 2024, issue of New York magazine, Ms. Owen wrote an article with the title "Inside the Patriot Wing." She talked with several of the over 1,400 January 6 defendants who have been spending time in the District of Columbia Jail, about 2 miles from the U.S. Capitol. This is her story of how she got to know several men who have been convicted of, in her wo...
Journalist Lina Zeldovich explained how a nearly forgotten lifesaving "healing virus" could be groundbreaking in treating deadly infectious diseases. She was interviewed by USA Today health reporter Adrianna Rodriguez. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
