Noble American Lives: Biographies of America's Religious Thinkers and Believers

William H. Benson

This show is about the lives of certain individuals from America's past, who participated in America's religious journey over the past five centuries. Some thought more deeply than did others. Some believed in new ways. Some believed in old ways, but promoted an existing religion in a new way. Each episode covers a chapter from a biography from twelve individuals: Roger Williams, Cotton Mather, Thomas Paine, George Whitefield, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Joseph Smith, William James, Mary Baker Eddy, Mark Twain, Billy Graham, H. L. Mencken, and Jim Bakker. In addition, other episodes will include comparisons and contrasts between the individuals.

  1. 6d ago

    H.L. Mencken at the Scopes Trial—Bryan's Oratory, Malone's Reply, and Darrow's Cross-Examination

    H.L. Mencken at the Scopes Trial—Bryan's Oratory, Malone's Reply, and Darrow's Cross-Examination In Noble American Lives podcast episode 166 (October 27, 2026), host William H. Benson continues reading from his book H.L. Mencken versus Jim Baker, focusing on Mencken's coverage of the Scopes Monkey Trial. The script recounts William Jennings Bryan's courtroom denunciation of evolution as anti-supernatural and immoral, Darrow's objections, and Dudley Malone's forceful defense of science and freedom that wins the crowd. Mencken's harsh dispatches inflame Dayton and Southern readers, prompting newspaper disclaimers and rumors of retaliation, though civic leaders defuse tensions. After Judge Ralston limits expert testimony and cites Darrow for contempt before accepting his apology, proceedings move outdoors, the "Read your Bible" sign is removed, and the defense calls Bryan as a witness. Darrow then questions Bryan on literal Bible interpretation, miracles, and biblical chronology, leading to tense exchanges. 00:00 Show Intro and Series Overview 00:52 Book List and How to Follow 01:20 Recap of Prior Volumes 03:22 Episode Focus H L Mencken 04:16 Scopes Trial Bryan Attacks Evolution 08:59 Courtroom Reactions and Mencken Takes 10:25 Malone Fires Back 13:40 Mencken Backlash and Mob Rumors 17:41 Friday Rulings and Darrow Clash 20:12 Weekend Plans and Leaving Dayton 24:04 Monday Contempt and Moving Outside 28:42 Darrow Calls Bryan to Testify 30:23 Bible Literalism Cross Examination 32:58 Flood Dates and Final Wrangling

  2. Oct 20

    H.L. Mencken at Dayton: Revival Night and the Opening Battles of the Scopes Trial

    In Noble American Lives podcast episode 165 (Oct. 20, 2026), host William H. Benson continues reading from his sixth book, H.L. Mencken versus Jim Bakker, moving into a biography of H.L. Mencken amid the Scopes Monkey Trial. The excerpt recounts Mencken attending an outdoor Pentecostal "Holy Roller" revival near Dayton, Tennessee, describing ecstatic prayer, speaking in tongues, and frenzied penitents, and his astonishment that participants were sincere. It then follows early Scopes proceedings: Bryan's push to bar defense experts, Darrow's constitutional arguments against the Butler Act, disputes over courtroom prayer, the judge's denial of the motion to quash, and the defense's effort to introduce scientific testimony through Maynard Metcalf. Bryan later argues parents' rights and anti-evolution claims as Mencken watches, amid courtroom heat, crowds, and a reporters' table collapse. 00:00 Episode Introduction 00:21 Series Overview 00:53 Book and Newsletter Notes 03:24 Today's Mencken Reading 03:40 Copyright Notice 04:21 Holy Roller Revival Scene 07:32 Back to Dayton Buzz 09:09 Mencken Reacts and Writes 10:07 Bryan vs Darrow Clash 14:42 Darrow's Constitution Argument 18:56 Courtroom Reactions and Storm 21:07 Prayer Fight in Court 25:33 Ralston Ruling and Trial Starts 26:31 Metcalf Explains Evolution 29:19 Expert Testimony Showdown 30:34 Bryan Takes the Floor 32:11 Mencken's Table Crash 33:37 Closing Bryan Warning

  3. Oct 14

    H.L. Mencken and the Road to the Scopes Monkey Trial

    William H. Benson introduces episode 164 of the Noble American Lives podcast, continuing his sixth book, H.L. Mencken versus Jim Baker, with the Mencken biography. The script recounts how the ACLU sought a test case against Tennessee's Butler Law, leading Dayton leaders to recruit teacher John T. Scopes, arrange his arrest, secure bail, and fast-track indictment and trial dates. As national attention grew, William Jennings Bryan joined the prosecution and Clarence Darrow, with Dudley Malone and Arthur Garfield Hays, took over the defense despite ACLU misgivings, adopting a strategy Mencken favored: attacking and humiliating Bryan. Mencken travels to Dayton, coins "Scopes Monkey Trial," describes the town's carnival atmosphere, and reports on fundamentalist street preachers and a Holy Roller meeting he attended with reporters. 00:00 Podcast Intro and Series 03:28 Episode Focus Mencken 04:25 ACLU Seeks Test Case 05:34 Scopes Volunteers Arrest 10:13 Grand Jury and Trial Set 11:15 Bryan and Darrow Join 17:54 Mencken Strategy Advice 18:47 Arrivals in Dayton 23:22 Dayton Carnival Atmosphere 29:02 Trial Opens and Jury 31:16 Mencken Holy Roller Night 32:13 Shinbone Ridge Frenzy 35:20 Closing Barbaric Grotesquery

  4. Oct 9

    H.L. Mencken's American Mercury, Love Affairs, and the Rise of Fundamentalism

    In Noble American Lives Podcast (Oct. 6, 2026), episode 163, host William H. Benson continues reading from his sixth book, H.L. Mencken versus Jim Baker, recapping earlier paired biographies in the series and promoting his Roger Williams vs. Cotton Mather volume and Substack newsletter. The Mencken biography describes his 1923 break with The Smart Set after a dispute over ridiculing the late President Harding, Hearst's purchase of the magazine, and Mencken and George Jean Nathan's launch of The American Mercury, which quickly succeeded, influenced other magazines, and published Black writers including Du Bois, Hughes, and Cullen. It covers Mencken's intense editorial work, multiple romantic relationships, and his civil-liberties crusades against the Red Scare, prohibition, censorship, and the Sacco-Vanzetti case, then traces the growth of Protestant fundamentalism and the anti-evolution campaign culminating in Tennessee's 1925 Butler Bill banning evolution instruction. 00:00 Series Introduction 00:52 Books and Subscription Notes 01:22 Recap of Prior Volumes 03:27 Mencken Biography Begins 04:21 Harding Controversy Fallout 05:26 Launching American Mercury 06:10 Editorial Revolution and Influence 07:25 Mencken Work Ethic Spotlight 08:51 Love Affairs and Marion Bloom 11:25 Sara Hart and Other Romances 14:06 Eileen Pringle and Marriage Pressure 17:11 Civil Liberties and Prohibition 19:59 Rise of Religious Fundamentalism 25:56 Anti Evolution Crusade Spreads 28:33 William Jennings Bryan Profile 33:26 Tennessee Passes Butler Bill 34:32 Closing and Transition

  5. Sep 27

    H.L. Mencken: In Defense of Women, The American Language, and the Prejudices Years

    Noble American Lives: Biographies of America's Religious Thinkers and Believers

  6. Sep 15

    H.L. Mencken in War, Romance, and Literary Rise (1912–1919)

    William H. Benson introduces Noble American Lives podcast episode 161 and continues his biography of H.L. Mencken from The Parallel Lives of the Noble American Religious Thinkers and Believers: H.L. Mencken versus Jim Bakker. The script recounts Mencken's 1912 Europe trip during the Titanic disaster, a failed prank effort to list him for vice president, and his contempt for the 1912 Democratic convention and William Jennings Bryan, alongside broader critiques of American society. It follows Mencken's intense, ultimately doomed romance with Marion Bloom, shaped by class tensions and later her conversion to Christian Science, which he attacked. During World War I he became openly pro-German, lost his Sun column, co-edited The Smart Set promoting new writers, reported from Berlin and the Eastern Front, then returned amid worsening U.S.-German relations. The period also saw major books and controversy over his anti-Puritan essay and accusations by Stuart Pratt Sherman. 00:00 Show Intro and Series 00:54 Books and Newsletter 01:21 Recap of Prior Volumes 03:26 Episode Focus Mencken 03:40 Copyright Notice 04:20 Europe Trip and Titanic 06:07 Convention and Bryan 08:09 Meeting Marion Bloom 11:53 Turbulent Romance Years 13:05 War and Pro Germany 16:33 Smart Set Co Editor 18:33 Billy Sunday Spectacle 19:38 Berlin Correspondent 1917 21:54 Eastern Front Trenches 23:10 Escape via Switzerland Cuba 25:13 Marion Nurse and Drift 26:40 Christian Science Clash 29:56 Breakup and Aftermath 32:19 Books and Puritanism 34:01 Sherman Feud Conclusion

  7. Sep 10

    H.L. Mencken: Baltimore Fire, The Sun, and the Rise of an Iconoclastic Critic

    Episode 160 of the Noble American Lives podcast (Sept. 8, 2026), hosted by William H. Benson, continues his sixth book, H.L. Mencken versus Jim Bakker, with Mencken's biography. The script recounts Mencken's leadership during the 1904 Baltimore fire and his decision to stay in Baltimore despite a New York offer, then his growing career: managing editor and editor-in-chief at the Baltimore Herald, publication of his Shaw study, the Herald's collapse, and his long tenure at the Baltimore Sun, where he refined a bold editorial voice. It covers his Nietzsche book (1908) and its reception, his work for The Smart Set, his praise for Twain, Conrad, and Dreiser, multiple side projects, and his friendship with George Jean Nathan. Mencken's Evening Sun column "The Free Lance" provoked heavy backlash while promoting public health, Black housing and fair treatment, women's rights, sanitation, and education. 00:00 Podcast Series Intro 00:55 Books and Subscription Notes 01:24 Recap of Earlier Volumes 03:29 Mencken Biography Begins 04:29 Baltimore Fire Aftermath 07:19 Conventions and Career Rise 08:15 Shaw Book and Herald Collapse 10:32 Baltimore Sun New Voice 11:43 Nietzsche Book Breakthrough 16:35 Theater Critic to Bookman 19:19 Smart Set Literary Fame 21:25 Twain Conrad Dreiser 23:57 Side Projects and Work Ethic 26:36 Nathan and Evening Sun 30:24 The Free Lance Firestorm 33:28 Reforms and Social Causes 35:23 Closing Causes Summary

  8. Sep 9

    H.L. Mencken—From Baltimore's Cigar Row to Newspaper Days

    Host William H. Benson introduces Noble American Lives podcast episode 159 (Sept. 1, 2026), beginning his sixth book, H.L. Mencken versus Jim Bakker, and starting the biography of H.L. Mencken after recapping prior paired biographies in his series and giving purchase/subscription notes. The script traces Mencken's German-American family in Baltimore, his birth in 1880, childhood on Holland Street, early exposure to Black alley evangelists, and intense reading sparked by Huckleberry Finn. He excelled at the Baltimore Polytechnic despite hating it, became an agnostic influenced by Huxley, disliked sports, and loved piano. Forced into the family cigar business, he sought journalism; after his father's death in 1899 he joined The Baltimore Herald, rose quickly, endured illness, traveled to Jamaica, became drama critic and later city editor, published Ventures into Verse, formed the Saturday Night Club, and helped cover the 1904 Great Baltimore Fire as it destroyed downtown and the papers' buildings. 00:00 Show Intro and Series Overview 03:28 Launching Mencken Biography 04:21 Mencken Family Roots in Baltimore 07:12 Holland Street Childhood and Alley Life 10:49 Books School and Early Skepticism 18:07 Trapped in the Cigar Business 20:27 Father's Death and New Freedom 22:24 First Break at The Baltimore Herald 25:21 Crime Beat Hard Living and Jamaica 28:23 Critic Poet and Saturday Night Club 32:40 City Editor Ambition and Restlessness 33:45 The Great Baltimore Fire Finale

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About

This show is about the lives of certain individuals from America's past, who participated in America's religious journey over the past five centuries. Some thought more deeply than did others. Some believed in new ways. Some believed in old ways, but promoted an existing religion in a new way. Each episode covers a chapter from a biography from twelve individuals: Roger Williams, Cotton Mather, Thomas Paine, George Whitefield, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Joseph Smith, William James, Mary Baker Eddy, Mark Twain, Billy Graham, H. L. Mencken, and Jim Bakker. In addition, other episodes will include comparisons and contrasts between the individuals.

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