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 Jack Matlock , a diplomat whose 35 years in the State Department culminated in his selection by R...
Jul 14, 2025•22 min
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 ...
Jul 07, 2025•53 min
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 Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny , documents Adendt’s life as an intellectual, refugee and, eventually, an American citizen whose concerns about power remain as relevant today as they w...
Jun 30, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 342
Kathleen DuVall joins Ben & Bob for a discussion of her Pulitzer Prize-winning book Native Nations: A Millennium in North America (Random House, 2024) 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 ...
Jun 23, 2025•54 min•Ep. 341
Bob speaks with UNC-Chapel Hill historian Molly Worthen about her new book Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Trump. Gary Fletcher edited this episode.
Jun 16, 2025•54 min•Ep. 340
Ben tells the story of Marion Zioncheck, inventor of the Zioncheck Zipper* and the only sitting member of congress to escape from an insane asylum. This is the second part of our live show featuring guests Major Garrett (CBS News), Margaret Talev (Syracuse University/Axios) & Doug Heye (too many to list). Check out the first part in episode #338 Murder & Mayhem in the Capital City. Special thanks to Rivers Langley of The Goods from The Woods for recommending the Zioncheck story to Ben. I...
Jun 11, 2025•22 min•Ep. 339
Major 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...
Jun 09, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 338
Few American Christians in the 21st Century question the compatibility of their faith with a capitalist economic system. Two hundred years ago, however, the social and economic changes that came with the rise of a capitalism posed fundamental challenges to Christian practices and beliefs. In this episode, Joseph Slaughter joins us to discuss his book Faith in Markets: Christian Capitalism in the Early American Republic and how Christian responses to the rise of capitalism in the 19th Century lai...
Jun 02, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 337
Ben & Bob sit down with friend and community builder Will Acuff for a conversation about how to find the good in life. Will founded the non-profit Corner to Corner , which “co-creates economic participation with underestimated Nashvillians,” alongside his wife Tiffany, and recently published his first book No Elevator to Everest: Shift from Survive to Thrive through Spirit-led Self Awareness . This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher....
May 26, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 336
The Good Friday Agreements of 1998 marked a turning point in Irish history, bringing an end to three decades known as The Troubles and laying a course for a better future for the people of Ireland. In this historian Mark Doyle and Friends of Sinn Féin Executive Director Greg O’Loughlin join us for a conversation about Irish history, the status of Irish unification, and how peace is possible even in the hardest of times. Dr. Mark Doyle is Professor of History at Middle Tennessee State University ...
May 19, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 335
A lot of Americans only know Eurovision via Will Farrell’s film, “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” which capture some of Eurovision’s over-the-top aspects, but the history of the annual event actually shines light on some of the biggest cultural, social and political developments in post-World War II European history. In this episode, Paul Jordan , aka Dr. Eurovision, joins Ben and special guest cohost/his wife Kelly Kolar for a conversation about Eurovision’s origins, how it’s ...
May 12, 2025•58 min•Ep. 334
With our live show in Washington, DC coming up on May 29, we thought it’d be fun to share one of our previous live recordings from Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC w/ guests Molly Worthen, Doug Heye & Rufus Edmisten! Dr. Molly Worthen (Department of History at UNC-Chapel Hill), Doug Heye (CNN/former RNC Communication Director) & Rufus Edmisten (Deputy Chief Council, Senate Watergate Committee/ former NC Secretary of State & Attorney General) join Bob & Ben for a conversation about ch...
May 05, 2025•1 hr 5 min
John Cale is probably best known as a founding member of Velvet underground, but the four years he spent alongside Lou Reed represent a small fraction of the influence Cale has had on modern music. In this episode, recorded live at MTSU’s Center for Popular Music , Ben talks to his friend and colleague Mark Doyle about his new book in the 33 1/3 series , which explores John Cale’s 1973 album Paris 1919 and where it (may) fit within the greater context of his career, the evolution of rock music, ...
Apr 28, 2025•53 min•Ep. 333
The American Historical Association was chartered by Congress in 1884 and has played an essential role in helping foster and spread great historical research. AHA incoming Executive Director Sarah Weicksel and pioneering public historian Ed Ayers join us for a discussion of AHA’s history, its current projects and the damage that recent government policy has done to historians’ ability to create and share an honest history of the United States. Learn more by visiting the American Historical Assoc...
Apr 21, 2025•56 min•Ep. 332
America’s role in the world is ‘changing’ and as much as things look new, we’ve seen a lot of this before. Economic Historian Jari Eloranta joins us to put NATO military spending, the looming trade war and other recent global developments in historical context. As always, there’s a lot that history can teach us when we pay attention to those who know it best. Dr. Jari Eloranta is a Professor of History at the University of Helsinki where he specializes in Economic History. He has published exten...
Apr 14, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 331
Last week the Trump Administration announced it would be cutting more than a thousand grants to the National Endowment for the Humanities, including grants for every state humanities council. In a letter the administration stated that the NEH would be “repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of President Trump’s agenda.” One major organization suffering from these cuts is National History Day, a brilliant program that has inspired young Americans for decades. To rem...
Apr 07, 2025•57 min
RTN is coming to Washington DC on May 29! Join us for a night of stories of murder and mayhem with guests Major Garrett, Margaret Talev, and Doug Heye at the Hamilton Live! You can get tickets and details at RTNpod.me/liveindc – hope to see you there! The “Amazon economy” seems like something new, but it rests on the physical and intellectual infrastructure built by those who came long before the age of the internet and leaves many of the same marks on the environment. Prominent in this story ar...
Mar 31, 2025•55 min
With tariffs, the Enemy Alien Act, and politically driven calls for judicial impeachment in the headlines, Ben & Bob decided to sit down and put these developments in historic context. We’ve never been so disappointed to have such a great reason to discuss the history we love! Some recommended readings: The US Constitution Scott Bomboy, “A Brief History of the Constitution and Tariffs,” National Constitution Center, Feb. 07, 2025 Lindsay Chervinsky, “Why the Last Supreme Court Impeachment wa...
Mar 24, 2025•52 min•Ep. 330
Libertarianism has had a tremendous influence on American politics, but according to Andrew Koppelman, its most prominent adherents have stripped libertarian philosophy of its more humane intentions. In this episode, Andrew joins Bob and Ben for a discussion about his book, Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed (St. Martin’s Press, 2022) and why he contends that libertarian philosophers such as Friedrich Hayek have been stripped of their original ...
Mar 17, 2025•50 min
Come see us May 29th at the Hamilton Live in DC! Click here for tickets. Kathryn Olivarius joins Bob & Ben to explain the powerful role that Yellow Fever played in shaping all aspects of life in New Orleans during the 19th century. Kathryn is Associate Professor of History at Stanford University and the author Necropolis: Disease, Power & Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom , (Harvard University Press, 2022). This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer....
Mar 10, 2025•54 min•Ep. 329
Our next live show is in Washington, DC on May 29! Click here for tickets. Anne Tindall is Special Council at the non-partisan group Protect Democracy , where she works to ensure that elections are free and fair, to prevent political violence, and to secure accountability for abuses of power at the federal and state level. In this episode she joins us to talk about the still unsettled results of North Carolina’s Supreme Court election from November, and Republican Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to ...
Mar 03, 2025•51 min•Ep. 328
Just announced: The next Road to Now Live is May 29 at The Hamilton Live in Washington, DC! Click here to get your tickets! Between 1933 and 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps enlisted more than three million young men in a project that planted two billion trees, slowed soil erosion on forty million acres of farmland, and enjoyed support across political and geographic divides. In this episode we talk with Neil Maher, author of Nature’s New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots ...
Feb 24, 2025•53 min
Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers’ is a historian whose work has shed new light on the roles that women played in American slavery. In this episode, she joins Ben and Bob to share some of the significant findings of her work, the sources she’s used to learn more about enslaved people and female slaveowners, and her new project, which reorients our understanding of the British Atlantic slave trade by centering the story on the lives of both free and captive women. Dr. Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers is Associa...
Feb 17, 2025•47 min
What does it mean to be different? This is the question Bob explores with author and President of the Word of South book and music festival, Mark Mustian , as they discuss his new historical-fiction novel, "The Boy with Wings." Set against the backdrop of a traveling freak show in the American South during the 1930s, the narrative follows the poignant journey of Johnny Cruel, a young man born with a distinctive birthmark that renders him an outcast. Historical fiction is a rarity on The Road to ...
Feb 10, 2025•49 min•Ep. 327
This week, we're revisiting one of our favorite conversations! During a past trip to Denver, Bob and Ben had the privilege of sitting down with journalist and historian Dick Kreck at the historic Brown Palace Hotel to discuss the fascinating history of Denver and its development in the 19th and early 20th centuries. With more than four decades of experience as a reporter for The San Francisco Examiner, The LA Times, and The Denver Post , Kreck has also published numerous books on the history of ...
Feb 03, 2025•47 min
This week, we welcome back to the program the Director of the Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at Winthrop University, Dr. Scott Huffmon . We usually have Dr. Huffmon on to discuss the prestigious Winthrop Poll , known as the most reliable and comprehensive poll regarding issues and politics in South Carolina. Today, however, Dr. Huffmon joins us to discuss a fascinating class he teaches: Politics and Society in Middle Earth: The Lord of the Rings. What can Tolkien's epic fantasy tr...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 326
Partisanship. What is it good for? Most people these days would say, “Absolutely nothing.” Julian Zelizer might reply, “Not so fast.” This week on the Road to Now we welcome backt to the show the Malcom Stevenson Forbes Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University, and CNN Political Analyst, Julian Zelizer to discuss his new book, In Defense of Partisanship . Zelizer argues that partisanship is not inherently detrimental to democracy. Instead, he contends that a healthy and vi...
Jan 20, 2025•52 min•Ep. 325
The Nazi regime that came to power in Germany in 1933 unleashed the most brutal and comprehensive war that humanity has ever seen. The horrors of the Nazis and the destruction they left behind is something most of us learned about in history class, but for Gerd Schroth it is the story of his childhood. Born in Germany in 1938, Gerd came of age on the scorched earth left behind by the German war machine. Gerd’s father had joined the Nazi party because he thought Hitler could restore Germany’s gre...
Jan 13, 2025•49 min
Martin Van Buren served just one term as President from 1837 to 1841, but as the architect behind the founding of the Democratic Party, his legacy lives on in the US today. In this episode, we speak with James M. Bradley, author of the new book Martin Van Buren: America’s First Politician , to learn how Van Buren helped reshape politics in the 19th century and laid the groundwork for America’s two-party system. You can learn more about the work being done to preserve the papers of Martin Van Bur...
Jan 06, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 324
Ben & Bob recap 2024, what they learned this year and what might be in store for 2025. Happy New Year! This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
Jan 01, 2025•48 min•Ep. 323
