Podopticon

Randal Hendrickson•www.podopticon.com

Education

PODOPTICON is a politics, history, and philosophy podcast. Topics will range. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts.

Last refreshed: August 26th, 2025 at 2:10 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

Politics, High and Low: Impeachment, the Pardon Power, and More with Jeffrey Tulis and Connor Ewing

We recorded this episode on Jan 12, just six days since a mob, whipped up by the president, breached the capitol. The first such breach since the war of 1812. So we’ve had to restart the clock, so to speak. It’s the insurrection equivalent of a workplace injuries counter: “6 days without a breach!” So we recorded six days after a mob stormed the capitol and one day before the House voted to impeach for a second time. Nancy Pelosi wore the same dress for both impeachments, which is just cool, if ...

Jan 15, 2021•50 min•Ep. 10

Constitutionalism After Trump: a Conversation with George Thomas and Ben Kleinerman

In this episode, we discuss two things: constitutionalism and the Republican Party, which are these days opposing forces. My guests, George Thomas and Ben Kleinerman, are trying to recapture a kind of constitutionalism that goes back to the American founding thought in some ways. They don’t make that turn worshipfully, so they can be engaged reasonably.

Dec 19, 2020•28 min•Ep. 9

Storytelling for a Crisis: Reading Herodotus with Joel Alden Schlosser

I like the classical authors. They’re fun. So many of them speak in earthy remarks, like, you can’t know you’re happy until you’re dead . Stuff like that. Whatever’s the opposite of a cheerful nonsense slogan. But another reason to turn to the classics, even especially one Herodotus, is right here in this episode, which turns out to be timely–in so far as the humanities seem always now to be in a crisis. Joel Alden Schlosser is my guest, and the crisis he addresses in his book, Herodotus in the ...

Dec 04, 2020•36 min•Ep. 8

On the Farm with Ariel Ron: the Social Movement that Built a Grassroots Leviathan

Good books will make you think of things they don’t raise explicitly, and what Ariel Ron’s book does for me is it makes me think about the stories we tell ourselves–and what work those stories do. His book, Grassroots Leviathan: Agricultural Reform and the Rural North in the Slaveholding Republic uncovers what turns out to be a social movement of northern farmers who put their stamp on American democracy and American self-image in lasting ways. The book runs from the lead up of the American Revo...

Nov 21, 2020•30 min•Ep. 7

On the History of Freedom–with Annelien de Dijn

In this episode, I talk to Annelien de Dijn about her new book Freedom: an Unruly History . The book is a fascinating read, and the pod is a great conversation. This one will be especially interesting to those interested in politics and political thought, as de Dijn dwells on the anti-democratic character of liberal conceptions of freedom and the government best set to attain it.

Oct 31, 2020•28 min•Ep. 6

The Idea of Presidential Representation–with Jeremy Bailey and Benjamin Kleinerman

So an ordinary guy stumbles into a conversation with two presidency scholars…. That’s essentially what happens in this episode. Jeremy Bailey, Benjamin Kleinerman, and I got together without a plan, just to discuss the argument advanced in Bailey’s book, “The Idea of Presidential Representation: An Intellectual and Political History.” Good stuff comes of it, I think. And much territory is covered.

Oct 22, 2020•31 min•Ep. 5

Never Trump–Weak Revolt or Masterful Capture? Author Rob Saldin Discusses

Never Trumpers. Who are they? Who cares? Masters of the political universe? Conservative elites who had power till a minute ago and now have little to offer beyond what talking heads can do? Great chat with one of the guys who wrote the book on the matter, Rob Saldin, co-author of "Never Trump: the Revolt of the Conservative Elites."

Oct 18, 2020•28 min•Ep. 4

On the Bright Side–the Invention of Color with Carolyn Purnell

This one's fun. Let it be a break from the noise. A leaf peeping drive around the history of color with historian, and my pal, Carolyn Purnell. That she’s my pal explains the joy in my voice–joy where there’s more often doom.

Oct 08, 2020•26 min•Ep. 3

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