Episodes
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James Patterson is one of the most popular storytellers of our time. The creator of some of the most popular characters and series in fiction, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride, he has also written on fascinating true stories from the lives of the Kennedys, John Lennon, and Tiger Woods. As a co-author, he has also written bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton. In this conversation with David M. Rubenstein, he speaks about his life and prolific career as an iconic American writer.
Recorded on January 25, 2025 -
President Theodore Roosevelt is often described as an icon of American masculinity. From his military past as a Rough Rider to his history of undertaking dangerous wilderness expeditions, Roosevelt’s image has been associated with rugged bravery and steely determination. Behind this persona, however, were the women—family members, friends, and wives—upon whom he relied and who guided Roosevelt in matters both personal and political. Author Edward O’Keefe joins David M. Rubenstein to trace the lives and influence of these women, who fundamentally shaped Roosevelt’s life and political career.
Recorded on December 12, 2024
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When President James Garfield assumed the office of the presidency in March 1881, he stood at the helm of a deeply polarized and fragmented nation. Known as a reformer as well as a broker of compromise during his time in Congress, Garfield would scarcely have time to implement change as president before being assassinated only four months into his term. In this talk with David M. Rubenstein, biographer C.W. Goodyear discusses the life and legacy of President Garfield, a complex and often contradictory figure who became a martyr for democracy.
Recorded on July 29, 2024 -
In the eyes of the nation and the world, the American presidency is a steadfast institution, one that symbolizes the United States' enduring strength and international leadership. In reality, the presidency is ever-evolving, as the contours of its powers and the expectations that come with them are continually reshaped by those who hold the office. Drawing on interviews with multiple living US presidents, including George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as conversations with leading presidential historians, David M. Rubenstein sits down with Douglas Brinkley to explore the history, responsibility, and myths surrounding America's highest office.
Recorded on September 23, 2024 -
Donald Trump’s so-called “hush money” trial was a historic episode in Trump’s unprecedented political career. The trial provided unique insight into the freedoms and limitations of the American presidency, and how our political system is and isn’t equipped to respond to complex intersections of the law and the country’s highest office. Jonathan Alter—one of only a handful of journalists present in the courtroom in April 2024—joins us to discussTrump’s trial, its aftermath, and the larger context in which the judicial struggle unfolded.
Recorded on December 5, 2024 -
The complex legacy of Jimmy Carter’s one-term presidency remains poorly understood by the American public. Often wholly overshadowed by the era-defining Reagan administration that would follow, Carter’s four years at the nation’s helm reflect a unique and singular American leader, one with deep moral convictions and who asked questions of the nation that may have been ahead of their time. Author Kai Bird sits down with David Rubenstein to examine the triumphs and challenges of the Carter administration.
Recorded on June 11, 2021 -
An almost mythic figure in American sports history, Jim Thorpe is remembered for his unrivaled athletic talents. He was an Olympic gold medalist, an All-American football player and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and a Major League Baseball player. In spite of his sporting prowess, however, Thorpe’s life was marked by struggle, from the discrimination he faced as a Native American to the controversial rescinding of his Olympic medals. Author David Maraniss joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss the trials and triumphs of an American sports legend.
Recorded on August 23, 2024 -
Once a dedicated general of the Confederate army, risking his life in defense of slavery, James Longstreet’s life took an unprecedented turn in the years after America’s bloody civil war. After fighting alongside Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg, Longstreet became a staunch supporter of Black voting rights during Reconstruction and even led an interracial militia into battle against a white supremacist insurrection in Louisiana. Historian Elizabeth Varon joins David Rubenstein for this eye-opening discussion of one of the Civil War’s most complex figures.
Recorded on September 7, 2024 -
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Rick Atkinson joins David Rubenstein to uncover the untold stories and moral conflicts—from both the American and British perspective—of the first 21 months of the Revolutionary War. Through the lens of a rich cast of characters, Atkinson makes clear the human consequences of this epic conflict at the dawn of the American story that pitted an ersatz Continental Army against the formidable British empire.
Recorded on February 5, 2024 -
The women’s suffrage movement was a hard-fought, decades-long campaign to extend that most essential of democratic rights to all Americans regardless of sex. That protracted struggle would rapidly come to a head in August of 1920 in Tennessee, the final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment. Author and journalist Elaine Weiss talks with David Rubenstein about the struggles of the suffragists against misogynistic politics, members of the church, and even other women in that fateful month when everything hung in the balance.
Recorded on September 25, 2020 -
Joe Biden’s legacy as America’s 46th president is still in the making. President Biden took office shortly after the attempted coup on January 6th, during the cresting of one of the most fatal waves of COVID-19, and in a period of severe economic disruption. While his historic decision not to seek reelection may prove decisive in the 2024 presidential race, his term as president offers a fascinating picture of his political career and the Democratic party. In conversation with David Rubenstein this February, author and journalist Franklin Foer explores how President Biden attempted to tackle the challenges facing America today.
Recorded on February 20, 2024 -
Enshrined in our Constitution and etched into our currency, religion is inextricable from the fabric of American political and social life. The ubiquity of religion in our national history has also made it an elusive, at times contradictory, force in this country’s growth—one that is associated with freedom and tolerance as often as it is with censure and control. Catherine Brekus, professor of American religious history at Harvard Divinity School, joins David Rubenstein to discuss the complex and fascinating role religious practice and expression has played in shaping the United States.
Recorded on November 20, 2020 -
The US Capitol building is a powerful physical symbol of representative democracy, with its famous dome one of America’s most iconic architectural feats. The solidity and dependability of that symbol, however, belie the dynamic history of the ever-changing building itself. Alan Hantman, architect of the Capitol from 1997 to 2007, joins David M. Rubenstein to provide a personal account of the inner workings of the Capitol, shedding light on who runs the building, how and why it changes over time, and how it has endured crises such as the 1998 US Capitol shooting, 9/11, and January 6.
Recorded on July 8, 2024 -
Please enjoy this re-release of a past episode of For the Ages. New episodes will return Fall 2024. Henry Louis Gates Jr. has helped reshape the nation’s collective understanding of the legacy of slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the ongoing struggle for racial equality. The storied filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder discusses this important history and how his scholarly work has developed how we learn about and understand the American story.
Recorded on January 22, 2021 -
Please enjoy this re-release of a past episode of For the Ages. New episodes will return Fall 2024. In 1924, Congress put in place strict quotas that impacted national immigration policy for decades. Interweaving her own family’s story, New York Times deputy national editor Jia Lynn Yang uncovers how presidents from Harry S. Truman through LBJ and a coalition of lawmakers and activists fought to transform the American immigration system.
Recorded on September 11, 2020 -
Please enjoy this re-release of a past episode of For the Ages. New episodes will return Fall 2024. Walter Isaacson discusses his career as a preeminent historian and biographer, how he chooses the people he writes about, and why he is fascinated by them. This includes his books Steve Jobs, the authorized biography of the Apple Inc. co-founder written by Isaacson at the subject’s request, and Leonardo da Vinci.
Recorded on December 18, 2018 -
Please enjoy this re-release of a past episode of For the Ages. New episodes will return Fall 2024. The fight for LGBTQ civil rights is long and hard-fought—and it still continues today. Award-winning author and renowned scholar Lillian Faderman discusses the history of the movement, from the 1950s up through the fight for marriage equality and beyond.
Recorded September 25, 2020 -
Of all the threats facing the country today, perhaps the most critical are those coming from within. In the face of rising apathy, anger, division, and disinformation, how can U.S. citizens ensure the survival of the American experiment? Richard Haass, an esteemed diplomat and policymaker, looks beyond the nation’s Bill of Rights and emphasizes key commitments that citizens can make to one another and to the government to safeguard the future of democracy.
Recorded on February 9, 2023 -
While institutional and systemic racism is well documented in the Postbellum and Reconstruction South, its effects on African Americans in the Northern United States, as well as how those practices have shaped contemporary society, is often less understood. Scholar and historian Khalil Gibran Muhammed sits down with David M. Rubenstein to shine a light on the 19th and 20th century manipulation of racial crime statistics that has erroneously guided much of American public policy—influencing everything from education to incarceration—for over a century, tracing our nation’s codified persecution of African Americans from slavery through the Great Migration and beyond.
Recorded on December 21, 2023 -
Marking one of the shortest presidencies in American history, James A. Garfield died less than seven months after inauguration due to a bullet wound sustained during an attempted assassination. A Civil War hero born into abject poverty, President Garfield’s attempted assassination set off a bitter struggle for power in the American government—even extending to contention surrounding the medical care used to treat his wound. Candice Millard, in conversation with David M. Rubenstein, offers an extraordinary account of Garfield’s momentous, if brief, presidential career and the legacy left not only by his work but by his death.
Recorded on April 11, 2023 - Show more
