Episodes
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After serving for three months as vice president, Harry S. Truman, at age 60, suddenly inherited the White House. The nearly eight years that followed were unusually turbulent—marked by victory in the wars against Germany and Japan, the first use of an atomic weapon and the development of far deadlier weapons, the Cold War, the Red Scare, the Marshall Plan, and the fateful decision to fight a land war in Korea. How did Truman become the steadfast leader who, in the rush of events, helped shape the postwar world?
Recorded on March 15, 2023 -
Following America’s violent entrance into World War II with the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States needed to swiftly mobilize for its fight in the Pacific Theater. In those tense days following the attack, President Roosevelt tapped Chester W. Nimitz to lead the charge. With the nation calling for swift justice against a complex backdrop of military challenges and internal politics, Nimitz rose to the challenges of his time and station to lead the United States in the fight for victory in the Pacific. Craig L. Symonds joins David M. Rubenstein to explore this pivotal figure and moment in American history.
Recorded on January 10, 2023 -
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John F. Kennedy was one of the most iconic political figures of the 20th century, a man known universally by his initials. From his college days to the end in Dallas, he was fascinated by the nature of political courage and its relationship to democratic governance. David M. Rubenstein is joined by historian Frederik Logevall to discuss how we should understand JFK and his role in both US and world politics, particularly during this time of growing threats to democracy both at home and abroad.
Recorded May 3, 2023 -
Today, Latinos represent 20% of the US population, with census reports projecting that one-third of Americans will identify as having Latino heritage by 2050. Exploring the complex history of immigration across the Americas, demographic diversity within US borders, and the impact on US politics, inaugural literary director of the Library of Congress Marie Arana joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss this extremely diverse set of Americans, with a focus on the broad range of racial, political, and historical backgrounds of the nation’s fastest growing minority group.
Recorded on May 30, 2023. -
In popular memory, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the quintessential political “natural.” However journalist and author Jonathan Darman argues that this political acumen was the hard-earned result of Roosevelt’s seven-year journey through illness and recovery from polio. In that decade of adapting to the stark new reality of his life, he discovered how to find hope in a seemingly hopeless situation—a skill that he employed to motivate Americans through the Great Depression and World War II. In conversation with David M. Rubenstein, Darman underscores the link between Roosevelt’s struggles with polio and his growth as both a man and leader, drawing attention to the shrewdness and compassion that made Roosevelt so effective.
Recorded on March 28, 2023 -
In 1991, a crew of New York City construction workers found the remains of a massive burial ground under twenty feet of rubble, just blocks from City Hall. The forgotten cemetery contained the remains of as many as 20,000 African Americans, and pointed to the countless untold stories of the enslaved and free people who lived, labored, and died in New York. Historian Leslie M. Harris joins David M. Rubenstein to shine a light on these stories, tracing the early African American experience in New York from the arrival of the first slaves into the city in 1629 to the devastating racial violence of the New York City Draft Riots in 1863.
Recorded on April 10, 2023 -
The discovery of the cell in the 17th century caused a paradigm shift in medicine, with the human body coming to be seen as something never before imagined: an ecosystem in and of itself; a collection of innumerable organic parts working in tandem to fulfill our biological functions. Physician and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee sits down with David M. Rubenstein to explore how this watershed moment came about and how its effects are still playing out in the form of radical medical advancements that draw into sharper relief what it means to be human.
Recorded on December 13, 2022 -
Throughout history, Americans have looked to their president for guidance, seeking leadership from the nation’s highest office during times of turbulence. Historian and lawyer Talmage Boston speaks with David M. Rubenstein to discuss the leadership lessons that can be learned from America’s most effective presidents—from Washington’s precipitous rise to power to Reagan’s ability to motivate and inspire optimism—and how they can be instructive to today’s leaders.
Recorded on February 12, 2024 -
J. Edgar Hoover was not only the inaugural director of the FBI, but the architect of modern American law enforcement. Hoover’s stewardship over America’s justice system was as robust as it was ruthless, while his connections to white supremacists and the religious right spun a complex web between policing, politics, and race. Historian Beverly Gage sits down with David M. Rubenstein to discuss her Pulitzer Prize-winning book on Hoover, tracing the lawman’s decades-long career shaping the American legal and political landscape, a period of immense influence that would span eight presidencies.
Recorded on March 8, 2023 -
In December 1941, Nazi Germany controlled much of Europe, Japan was fighting a brutal campaign in China, and the United States had yet to enter into combat on either front. The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, however, changed everything. Historians Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman join moderator David M. Rubenstein to dissect the five crucial days between the attack on Pearl Harbor and Nazi Germany’s declaration of war on the United States, tracing the strategic decisions that would irrevocably change the course of the Second World War.
Recorded on July 31, 2023 -
In an exhilarating and, at times, harrowing account of exploration, survival, and betrayal, author and journalist Candice Millard joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss the story of two men’s search for the headwaters of the Nile River. Richard Burton, an intelligent, highly capable, and decorated soldier, and John Speke, an ambitious aristocrat and army officer, embarked on the treacherous journey together, soon developing a heated rivalry that would persist throughout their lives. Alongside them on their epic journey was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, a peerless guide who was formerly enslaved, and who played a vital role in this story.
Recorded on August 31, 2023 -
Author and journalist Kate Andersen Brower rejoins David M. Rubenstein to continue their conversation on the legacy of the great Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor’s triumphs––her precocious rise to megastardom, her fight for fair and equal pay despite the sexism present in Hollywood during her lifetime, her advocacy for those with HIV/AIDS––as well as the difficulties she faced in her life––her eight marriages and her struggles with addiction––are all brought into clearer focus in service of painting a rich portrait of the American icon.
Recorded on March 24, 2023 -
Elizabeth Taylor, a legend of cinema known across the world, was one of the last great Classical Hollywood stars whose talent and beauty led her to universal renown. Beyond the artist, though, Taylor was a feminist trailblazer, a human rights advocate, and a fighter—someone who championed the needs of others and struggled bravely against problems of her own. Author and journalist Kate Andersen Bower joins David M. Rubenstein to delve into the first ever authorized biography of the twentieth century’s most famous movie star, bringing a new look at the life and legacy of Elizabeth Taylor.
Recorded on March 24, 2023 -
Kentucky fought alongside the Union for the entirety of the Civil War, yet in the decades that followed, the state embraced many political and cultural traditions of the Confederacy, enacting Jim Crow laws and erecting monuments to embrace this adopted identity. In a fascinating conversation on identity and political myth-making, historian Anne E. Marshall breaks down how and why Kentuckians constructed this historically-revisionist narrative that shaped the trajectory of their state for the next 60 years.
Recorded on August 23, 2023 -
In an incisive analysis of national mourning following the deaths of presidents across US history, historian Lindsay Chervinsky joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss how such losses and the subsequent expressions of grief affected American culture and politics. Examining what can be learned from the ways we have grieved and remembered late presidents since the passing of George Washington in 1799, Chervinsky explores the way presidents continue to shape America even in death.
Recorded on August 7, 2023 -
The arc of Abraham Lincoln’s political career existed in the context of the ideologically tumultuous 19th century. From a period of cultural pessimism in the 1840s and 1850s alongside the Millerites’ prediction of a Second Coming, this period saw the rise of utopian philosophies, the intwining of slavery and Southern identity, the merging of Manifest Destiny with the concept of free-market opportunity, and a collapse of a common, middle ground. Distinguished historian Orville Vernon Burton joins David M. Rubenstein to paint a portrait of the five decades pivoting around Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, and his place within them.
Recorded on July 6, 2023 -
In the wake of a pandemic and amidst deep partisan divisions and a looming budgetary crisis, Calvin Coolidge faced monumental challenges when he assumed the presidency following the abrupt death of his predecessor Warren G. Harding in 1923. From the Boston Police Strike to the rapid social and economic changes of the Roaring Twenties, Coolidge’s political career spanned and was marked by continuous upheaval in American life. In conversation with David M. Rubenstein, Amity Shlaes explores the personal and political characteristics that define Coolidge’s career and legacy.
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Jonathan Freedland once again joins David Rubenstein to discuss the story of Walter Rosenberg, one of the few Jews to successfully escape Auschwitz. Following Rosenberg’s arrival in Auschwitz, this conversation dives into the details of the risky escape plan he hatched alongside Fred Wetzler, the dangers that met them outside the camp once they had escaped, and how Rosenberg and Wetzler attempted to alert the international community about what they had seen and experienced.
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In April of 1944, Walter Rosenberg escaped from Auschwitz alongside Fred Wetzler, making them two of a very small number of Jews who were able to escape a concentration camp and make their way to safety during the Second World War. In the first of this two-part conversation, Jonathan Freedland and David Rubenstein discuss how anti-Semitism shaped Rosenberg’s life in the years leading up to the war, his eventual internment as a teenager in Slovakia, and how his plans to escape took shape once he landed in Auschwitz.
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Biographer James Traub continues the story of John Quincy Adams. Drawing on the sixth US president’s diaries, letters, and writings, Traub discusses Adams’ ascendance to the White House, his numerous achievements and failures in office, his stewardship of American foreign policy, and his continuous dedication to a code of ethics beyond the desire for reelection.
Recorded on August 23, 2023 - Show more