American Biography

Well done podcast. Heard about this podcast while starting at the beginning of the History of England and I’m glad I added this podcast to my list. I started from the beginning about a month ago and have just finished through episode 28. Looking forward to hearing future episodes!

I didn’t expect original scholarship. The episode on John Marshall’s slave ownership and slave jurisprudence was both an education and a surprise. John Marshall’s entire legacy deserves reexamination in the light of the blatant injustices he administered to slaves and people who should not have been treated as slaves. I had have long seen Marbury v. Madison as a blatant, unjustifiable grab for unconstitutional judicial review. Not is the constitution silent on judicial review, it specifically grants the Supreme Court original jurisdiction over officers. Since Madison was being sued in his official capacity as Secretary of State, the Supreme Court did have both constitutional and statutory authority to issue a writ of Mandamus. The slave holder episode provides additional examples of Marshall lying about the law to arrive at a decision he wanted.

I just discovered American Biography earlier this summer, and binged all the episodes that have been released in the course of a few days. American Biography has been a treat from its start to today. Each episode thus far has focused on the life of John Marshall, which in of itself has been fascinating. But the show also provides a much deeper review of the times in which Marshall (and I assume any future subjects highlighted in this podcast) lived, and how he interacted with and influenced the events within the period he lived. Overall I found this podcast a really engaging, fun, and informative synthesis of John Marshall's life. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from there (and hoping for a deep dive on Henry Clay, among other famous Americans!) The audio is a little off in the first few episodes, as the narrator warns you in the Intro, but it's well worth continuing through the catalogue. Highly recommended!

After a bumpy start (sound quality) ,Thomas has definitely come into his own. I feel he is worthy of being counted among the likes of Mike Duncan in his deep and scholarly dive into the life of a founder whose name may not be recognized by all too many Americans: John Marshall. We've all heard plenty about Washington, Adams, Franklin and Jefferson. It's my hope that Thomas will tackle some of other the lesser knowns: Henry Clay, John Calhoun, Frederick Douglas. Now that I fully caught up I will have to wait like the rest of you for the next installment! :-( Keep up the great work, Thomas. Robert