The Road to Now

RTN Productions

4.8 (552)
HISTORY
UPDATED WEEKLY

Bob Crawford (The Avett Brothers) & Dr. Ben Sawyer (MTSU History) share conversations with great thinkers from a variety of backgrounds – historians, artists, legal scholars, political figures and more –who help us uncover the many roads that run between past and present. For more information, visit TheRoadToNow.com If you'd like to support our work, join us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheRoadToNow

1 DAY AGO

Mitch McConnell: The Price of Power w/ Michael Tackett

Journalist Michael Tackett joins Ben & Bob to discuss his new book The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America and Lost his Party (Simon & Schuster, 2024). Tackett, who wrote the biography with McConnell’s consent, was granted unprecedented access to McConnell’s vast personal archives, his staff, and even the Senator himself, who sat for about 50 hours of interviews. If you’ve ever wondered how Mitch McConnell rose to power, how he's stayed there despite challenges from both parties, or what makes the man tick, this conversation has the answers. Michael Tackett covers national politics for The New York Times. His work has earned him multiple awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Edgar A. Poe Award for National Reporting. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.

53 min
DEC 3

The Circus Continues w/ Mark McKinnon

Mark McKinnon is former chief media advisor to George W. Bush & John McCain, cocreator of Showtime’s The Circus, and current writer at Vanity Fair. In this episode, he joins Ben & Bob to recap the 2024 election and what they think might come next. Click here to read Mark’s “An Open Letter to My Daughter,” published November 6, 2024 in Vanity Fair. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.

1h 2m
NOV 25

Miss America's Secret Past w/ Amy Argetsinger

The Miss America pageant has always had its critics, but the stories of the organization and those who participated in it are far more dynamic than most people recognize. In this episode, Bob & Ben speak with Amy Argetsinger whose new book There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America explains Miss America’s origins, how the pageant both shaped and was shaped by American society, and why it might be okay that the pageant’s significance in American culture has faded. Bonus: Bob calls Miss USA “the confederacy of beauty pageants.” Listen to find out why that makes sense! Amy Argetsinger is an editor for The Washington Post’s acclaimed Style section, where she has overseen coverage of media, popular culture, politics and society. Her new book There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America was published by Atria//One Signal Publishers in September of 2021. You can follow Amy on twitter at @AmyArgetsinger. This is a rebroadcast of episode 210, which originally aired in October 2021. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.

1h 3m
NOV 18

James Armistead Lafayette w/ Stephen Seals

James Armistead Lafayette lived a remarkable life. After being granted permission by his enslaver to enlist in the cause, James joined up with the Marquis de Lafayette and served as one of the most important spies in the Revolutionary war. After many years of petitioning for his freedom, James eventually gained his freedom and officially changed his last name to Lafayette after the Frenchman with which he served and who later petitioned Congress for James’ freedom. In this episode, we learn more about the fascinating life of James Armistead Lafayette from Stephen Seals, the historical interpreter who has played James at Colonial Williamsburg for more than a decade. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

55 min
NOV 11

Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn w/ Christopher Cox

Did you know that Woodrow Wilson didn’t have a regular job until he was 28 years old? Or that he didn’t complete all the requirements for a PhD? After retiring from politics in 2009, former Congressman and Securities & Exchange Commission Chair Christopher Cox decided to turn to history. The result is his new book, Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn, which gives special attention to Wilson's views on race and women's rights, presenting the 28thPresident as “a man superbly unsuited to the moment when he ascended to the Presidency.” In this episode, Chris joins us to share the path that led him to Woodrow Wilson, the reasons he came to such an unfavorable opinion of him, and what his work adds to our understanding of a Presidency that has rapidly gone from reverence to rebuke. Find out more about the book at thelightwithdrawn.com. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer

51 min
NOV 4

Colombia, the US and the War on Drugs w/ Lina Britto

Most Americans are aware of Colombia’s role in the international drug trade, but we know less about the role that Americans played in the story as consumers, smuggling pioneers, and practitioners of a foreign policy that facilitated the rise of Colombian drug production. In this episode, journalist and historian Lina Britto shares the fascinating story of how Colombia emerged as a major supplier of drugs to American consumers and how this relationship affected people in both countries. She also explains the origins of the “War on Drugs” in the US and tells the story of how Americans hippies in search of marijuana laid the groundwork for the distribution techniques later used by Pablo Escobar’s cocaine cartel. Dr. Lina Britto is Associate Professor of History at Northwestern University where she specializes in Colombian history and the history of the international drug trade. She is the author of Marijuana Boom: The Rise and Fall of Colombia's First Drug Paradise (University of California Press, 2020) This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

1h 25m
OCT 28

US Immigration Policy w/ Yael Schacher

US immigration policy has become one of the most contentious issues in American politics, but there is one point on which most of us agree: our immigration policy is broken. And while the sheer number of interests involved mean that an easy fix is unlikely, the best place to start is with a sound understanding of how we got the immigration system we have today. As a historian of immigration who currently serves as Director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International, Yael Schacher has a particularly well informed perspective on this issue. In this episode, Yael walks us through the history of immigration policy in the US and shares what she sees as the major challenges that stand in the way of reforming our current immigration system. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

1h 26m
OCT 21

The Epidemic Episode

It’s flu season, so this week on the show, we’re bringing you something seasonal: a history of epidemics in two parts. In part 1, we talk about the 1918 influenza outbreak with John Barry, author of the NY Times Best-seller Seller The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History (Penguin, 2005). And in part 2 we dig into the history of infectious disease with epidemiologist Erin Welsh, co-host of This Podcast Will Kill You. This episode is a supercut of #120 The History of Influenza w/ John Barry and #151 Live in Chicago w/ Pete Souza & Erin Welsh, both of which originally aired in 2019. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.

56 min

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4.8

out of 5

552 Ratings

Great History

Nov 6

Lost Historian

Enjoy listening to this podcast. As a life long history buff, I enjoy listening to topics you never here or read about back in school. The diversity and obscurity of the topics is very refreshing.
Bob and Ben: the two most famous historians on the internet

Oct 21

scottfield1967

Love the energy, the discussions, and the questions. Thank you also for not making it two hours long.
Love this show

Sep 22

Billgerstein

As a retired high school history teacher I have lots of admiration for this highly informative and enjoyable show. There are a number of other history podcasts out there but this one is by far the best. The hosts know their stuff even the musician who is co host. They stay up to date on issues and will open your eyes if you tune in.
Great conversations!

Sep 20

LeapYearBaby

Love this podcast! I always learn something, and the interesting conversations keep me thinking.

Bob Crawford (The Avett Brothers) & Dr. Ben Sawyer (MTSU History) share conversations with great thinkers from a variety of backgrounds – historians, artists, legal scholars, political figures and more –who help us uncover the many roads that run between past and present. For more information, visit TheRoadToNow.com If you'd like to support our work, join us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheRoadToNow