The Road to Now

America’s role in the world is ‘changing’ and as much as things look new, we’ve seen a lot of this before. Economic Historian Jari Eloranta joins us to put NATO military spending, the looming trade war and other recent global developments in historical context. As always, there’s a lot that history can teach us when we pay attention to those who know it best.   Dr. Jari Eloranta is a Professor of History at the University of Helsinki where he specializes in Economic History. He has published extensively on the history of military spending and trade. Before moving back to his home country of Finland, Jari was a Professor of History at Appalachian State where he was crucial in inspiring Ben’s fascination with economic history.   Come see the Road to Now Live at the Hamilton in Washington, DC on May 29 for a night of stories of murder and mayhem in the capital city w/ guests Margaret Talev, Major Garrett & Doug Heye. You can get tickets at RTNpod.me/liveindc.   This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

Last week the Trump Administration announced it would be cutting more than a thousand grants to the National Endowment for the Humanities, including grants for every state humanities council. In a letter the administration stated that the NEH would be “repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of President Trump’s agenda.” One major organization suffering from these cuts is National History Day, a brilliant program that has inspired young Americans for decades. To remind folks what we stand to lose, we’re sharing our 2024 conversation on National History Day with Executive Director Cathy Gorman and podcaster Don Wildman, along with a new introduction in which Ben gives an overview of the cuts and the widespread consequences they’ll have across the country.   Can learning the skills required to do good history serve as an antidote to conspiracy theory? Cathy Gorn & Don Wildman think so, and in this episode they join us to discuss their work to teach those skills in the 6th-12th grade classroom through National History Day, a program that reaches more than half a million students and tens of thousands of teachers each year. We agree with them and think National History Day is an American treasure, so we hope you enjoy this conversation about what goes into creating good history, how we can better teach that to the public, and how your kids can get involved in National History Day.   Click here to learn more about National History Day programs for students & teachers.   Dr. Cathy Gorn has spent more than four decades working with National History Day and currently serves as NHD’s Executive Director.   Don Wildman is a podcast & documentary host whose projects include Mysteries at the Museum (Travel Channel) & the podcast American History Hit. He currently serves as Co-Chair of National History Day’s Development Committee.   Sources:   “Cuts to NEH and Humanities Councils: What Southern States Will Lose,” statehumanities.org, Federation of State Humanities Councils, April 3, 2025.   Mia Maldonado, “Trump administration’s latest federal cuts hit humanities funding in Idaho,” Idaho Capital Sun, April 4, 2025.   Jennifer Schuessler, “Trump Administration Moves to Cut Humanities Endowment,” New York Times, April 3, 2025.   Sarah D. White, “States Scramble after Trump’s ‘devastating’ cuts to humanities grants,” USA Today, April 5, 2025.         This is a rebroadcast of #330 which originally aired on April 22, 2024, along with a new introduction. The original episode was edited by Gary Fletcher. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.

RTN is coming to Washington DC on May 29! Join us for a night of stories of murder and mayhem with guests Major Garrett, Margaret Talev, and Doug Heye at the Hamilton Live! You can get tickets and details at RTNpod.me/liveindc – hope to see you there!   The “Amazon economy” seems like something new, but it rests on the physical and intellectual infrastructure built by those who came long before the age of the internet and leaves many of the same marks on the environment. Prominent in this story are five companies- Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, Walmart, Bank of America, and FexEx-  all of which have global reach and southern roots. In this episode, Bart Elmore joins us to talk about his new book Country Capitalism: How Corporations from the American South Remade our Economy and the Planet (UNC Press, 2023), and how understanding the history of American business can help us address the environmental challenges that are undeniably facing humanity today.   Dr. Bartow Elmore is Associate Professor of History and a core faculty member of the Sustainability Institute at The Ohio State University. In addition to Country Capitalism, he is also the author of  Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism (W. W. Norton, 2015) and Seed Money: Monsanto's Past and Our Food Future (W. W. Norton, 2021). You can hear his discuss these books in RTN episode 140 and episode 208 respectively. Bart is also a 2022 winner of the Dan David Prize.   This episode originally aired as episode #272 on May 15, 2023. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.  

With tariffs, the Enemy Alien Act, and politically driven calls for judicial impeachment in the headlines, Ben & Bob decided to sit down and put these developments in historic context. We’ve never been so disappointed to have such a great reason to discuss the history we love!   Some recommended readings: The US Constitution Scott Bomboy, “A Brief History of the Constitution and Tariffs,” National Constitution Center, Feb. 07, 2025 Lindsay Chervinsky, “Why the Last Supreme Court Impeachment was The Last (So Far),” The Bulwark, Sept. 02, 2022. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.

Libertarianism has had a tremendous influence on American politics, but according to Andrew Koppelman, its most prominent adherents have stripped libertarian philosophy of its more humane intentions. In this episode, Andrew joins Bob and Ben for a discussion about his book, Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed (St. Martin’s Press, 2022) and why he contends that libertarian philosophers such as Friedrich Hayek have been stripped of their original intent by those who have ulterior motives.   Dr. Andrew Koppelman is John Paul Stevens Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. You can learn more about his work at AndrewKoppelman.com   This is a rebroadcast of RTN #249 which originally aired on October 10, 2022. This version was edited by Ben Sawyer.

Come see us May 29th at the Hamilton Live in DC! Click here for tickets.   Kathryn Olivarius joins Bob & Ben to explain the powerful role that Yellow Fever played in shaping all aspects of life in New Orleans during the 19th century. Kathryn is Associate Professor of History at Stanford University and the authorNecropolis: Disease, Power & Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom, (Harvard University Press, 2022).   This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.

Our next live show is in Washington, DC on May 29! Click here for tickets.   Anne Tindall is Special Council at the non-partisan group Protect Democracy, where she works to ensure that elections are free and fair, to prevent political violence, and to secure accountability for abuses of power at the federal and state level. In this episode she joins us to talk about the still unsettled results of North Carolina’s Supreme Court election from November, and Republican Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to convince the courts to throw out sixty thousand ballots in a race where his challenger, incumbent Allison Riggs, won by just 734 votes. Anne explains what makes this case unique in the history of American elections and why it may set a dangerous precedent that could weaken voting rights for citizens across the country regardless of political party.   Click here to read the Electoral Integrity Project data that Anna discussed in this episode.   This conversation was recorded on February 27, 2025. Gary Fletcher edited this episode.

Just announced: The next Road to Now Live is May 29 at The Hamilton Live in Washington, DC! Click here to get your tickets!   Between 1933 and 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps enlisted more than three million young men in a project that planted two billion trees, slowed soil erosion on forty million acres of farmland, and enjoyed support across political and geographic divides. In this episode we talk with Neil Maher, author of Nature’s New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement (Oxford University Press, 2008) about how the CCC helped solidify FDR’s New Deal and spread the seeds of environmental activism for generations to come.   Dr. Neil Maher is a Professor of History and Master Teacher in the Federated History Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University-Newark. He is also the author of Apollo in the Age of Aquarius (Harvard University Press, 2017). You can find out more about his work at NeilMaher.com.     This is a rebroadcast of episode #274 which aired as The Original Green New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps with Neil Mahr on May 29, 2023. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.

Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers’ is a historian whose work has shed new light on the roles that women played in American slavery. In this episode, she joins Ben and Bob to share some of the significant findings of her work, the sources she’s used to learn more about enslaved people and female slaveowners, and her new project, which reorients our understanding of the British Atlantic slave trade by centering the story on the lives of both free and captive women. Dr. Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers is Associate Professor of History at the University California, Berkeley and the author of the award-winning book They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South (Yale University Press, 2019). She is also one of the recipients of the 2023 Dan David Prize, which recognizes outstanding scholarship that illuminates the past and seeks to anchor public discourse in a deeper understanding of history.   This episode was originally aired as episode #270 on April 24, 2023. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer. 

What does it mean to be different? This is the question Bob explores with author and President of the Word of South book and music festival, Mark Mustian, as they discuss his new historical-fiction novel, "The Boy with Wings." Set against the backdrop of a traveling freak show in the American South during the 1930s, the narrative follows the poignant journey of Johnny Cruel, a young man born with a distinctive birthmark that renders him an outcast. Historical fiction is a rarity on The Road to Now, so this is a truly special episode that you do not want to miss. Bob and Mark also discuss the Word of South book and music festival held every April in Tallahassee, Florida.   Boy with Wings is out on March 15 from Köehler Books- click here for links to (pre)order your copy.   This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.