The Road to Now

Ukraine has gotten a lot of intermittent attention in the US over the last few years, but the stories we hear are usually about the US and Russia. To counter that tendency, we offer you a story about Ukraine that is actually about Ukraine. In this episode, historian Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon joins Ben to talk about the key historical events that have shaped Ukraine and its place in the world today. Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon holds a MA in Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies from Harvard University and is currently a doctoral student in history at the University of Pennsylvania. You can learn more about her at her website www.kstjulianvarnon.com and follow her on twitter at @KSVarnon. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

Today we’ve got a little something special for you- something we’re calling “Crossroads.” From time to time, on weekends, Bob and I will be sharing episodes of podcasts that we think our audience might enjoy, and our first ever featured podcast is History Daily. History Daily is hosted by our friend and podcaster extraordinaire, Lindsay Graham. You might know Lindsay from some of the biggest podcasts in the country, including American Scandal and American History Tellers. Lindsay’s newest endeavor, History Daily, drops new episodes every weekday featuring stories of events that happened on that date in the past. The episodes run about 20 minutes and are well produced, so they’re interesting gateways into bigger topics in history and they’re pleasant listens. For today’s episode, Ben picked wpisodes that work well together- the story of Laika the Soviet space dog’s Nov. 3, 1957 launch into space and the story of Apollo 8- which sent the first crewed spacecraft to orbit the moon on Dec. 21, 1968. They’re both great on their own, but together they illustrate the firm lead that the Soviets had early in the space race, and the incredible effort NASA put into surpassing the Soviets by the end of the 1960s.   If you enjoy these episodes, you can follow History Daily anywhere you get the Road to Now.

Jon Grinspan is a curator of political history at the Smithsonian Museum of American History and a frequent contributor to The New York Times. In this episode, Jon explains how his work with historical objects has informed his understanding of the past, the reasons he thinks that American politics in recent years is less of an aberration than many of us would like to believe, and his thoughts on the many ways Americans might look back on the January 6th insurrection in the future. Jon also shares the process he and his colleagues at The Smithsonian follow in selecting objects from today that will be preserved for future generations. Dr. Jon Grinspan’s newest book is The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915 (Bloomsbury, 2021). For more on his work, visit his bio page at the Smithsonian or link directly to one of the articles listed below. Jon Grinspan & Peter Manseau, “It’s 2086. This is What American History Could Look Like.” The New York Times, Jan. 6, 2022. Jon Grinspan, “What We Did the Last Time We Broke America,” The New York Times, Oct. 29, 2021. Jon Grinspan, “How to Steal An Election,” The New York Times, Oct. 24, 2020. For Bob and Ben’s conversation in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 attack on the capitol, check out RTN #187 The Insurrection Episode. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

On January 9, the new musical Swept Away, which is based on the music of Bob’s band The Avett Brothers, premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. In this episode, the musical’s writer, John Logan (Any Given Sunday, Skyfall, Red) and lead actor, John Gallagher Jr. (American Idiot, The Newsroom) join Bob and Ben for a discussion about how the music became a musical, their sources of creativity, and why they decided to make such a deep investment in developing and performing Swept Away. Swept Away runs until March 6, 2022 at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in Berkeley, CA. For more information and tickets visit the Berkeley Rep’s website. You can also follow Swept Away on Instagram by clicking here.  Click here to hear John Gallagher Jr. performing “The Once and Future Carpenter” from Swept Away. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.  

In 1998, as part of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, the biggest US tobacco companies agreed to open their archives to the public. Inside company documents was a story of tobacco executives who understood that cigarettes killed smokers yet expended vast amounts of time and money to keep that information from the public. In this episode, Ben speaks with Louis Kyriakoudes, an expert who has applied his academic research on the history of cigarettes as an expert witness in tobacco cases and as a speaker to medical groups seeking to better understand the history of the industry. Dr. Louis Kyriakoudes is Professor of History and Director of the Albert Gore Research Center at Middle Tennessee State University. He has served as expert witness in tobacco litigation in multiple state and federal courts and served as an international consultant on the topic. For a list of sources, visit our episode page at RTNpod.me/218. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

Bob & Ben catch up for a conversation about 2021 and what may await us in the New Year. They discuss free speech on college campuses, the state of the workforce, and little bit about a lot of other topics. Happy New Year! We're excited to announce that we've collaborated with Hark Audio to make Harklists of our favorite RTN moments from 2021! Hear Bob & Ben's clips and why they chose them at the following links: The Road to Now – Bob Crawford’s 2021 Highlights The Road to Now – Ben Sawyer’s 2021 Highlights   Sources Mentioned in this episode: Harvard Youth Poll, 42nd edition, 2021. Michael Graber, Debt: The First 5,000 Years, Melville House, 2011.

On December 25, 1776, George Washington and his men celebrated their first post-Declaration of Independence Christmas by crossing a freezing river to mount a surprise attack against their enemies. The plan worked, but almost 250 years later the story of Washington crossing the Delaware might surprise you too. In this episode, RTN favorite Bruce Carlson of My History Can Beat Up Your Politics joins Bob & Ben for a conversation about one of the US’s most recognized, yet little-known battles and how it affected the course of the Revolutionary War. If you enjoy this episode, check out My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, available anywhere you get The Road to Now. You can also hear Bruce in RTN Episode 85: The History of US-Mexican Relations w/ Bruce Carlson, recorded live from Avetts at the Beach in 2018. This episode is an enhanced rebroadcast of episode #154 that includes additional primary source readings not included in the original episode. The rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.

Faith has played an important role in American history, but not always in the ways we’d expect. In this episode, Andy Polk joins Bob and Ben to explain how politicians, advertising executives and public relations experts bypassed America’s religious leaders, ignored theological debates, and dismissed historical evidence to fabricate and sell a story of America’s religious origins that served their own political needs. That story remains with us today so, to quote the title of Andy’s recent op-ed in The Tennessean: “When you hear ‘In God We Trust’, pay attention to what comes next.” Dr. Andrew R. Polk is Associate Professor of History at Middle Tennessee State University and the author of the new book, Faith In Freedom: Propaganda, Presidential Politics, and the Making of an American Religion (Cornell University Press, December 2021). Get your hardback copy of Faith In Freedom directly from Cornell University Press and save 30% off the cover price with promo code 09Flyer! Click here for more information.  This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.  

The stories we tell about ourselves help us make sense of the world. And while we all have stories as individuals, a set them within a shared narrative that is the foundation of our communities. In this episode, National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) CEO Tim Storey hosts Ben and storyteller Donna Washington in a conversation about  the ways that stories work, why they have the power to unite us, and how they can also be used to divide us. They also reflect on the “American Story” and how new perspectives on our past help us to better understand who we are as a people and a country. A special thanks to Tim Storey and everyone at NCSL for inviting Ben and Donna to return to NCSL’s Legislative Summit, and to Donna Washington for sharing her wisdom with us and the crowd. We’re also grateful to all those who attended the panel and took the time to speak with us afterward. You can read Lesley Kennedy’s writeup of the panel on NCSL’s blog here. You can follow Donna Washington on twitter at @DLWStoryTeller, like her page on facebook, and find out more about her upcoming performances and work (including her new book Boo Stew) at her website- DonnaWashington.com. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is a non-partisan organization that represents the legislatures in the states, territories and commonwealths of the U.S. Its mission is to advance the effectiveness, independence and integrity of legislatures and to foster interstate cooperation and facilitate the exchange of information among legislatures. To learn more about NCSL and access their incredible set of online resources covering a wide variety of topics relating to state legislatures and local governments, visit their website: NCSL.org. You can hear our first NCSL panel, recorded in 2019, featuring Ben, Donna and Bob in episode #138 by clicking here. Our conversation with NCSL’s experts on legislative redistricting past and present, is also available in episode #212 Redistricting: A Primer w/ Wendy Underhill and Ben Williams. This episode was recorded at NCSL’s Legislative Summit in Tampa, Florida on November 5th, 2021 and edited by Ben Sawyer.      

During a trip to Denver, Bob and Ben were fortunate enough to sit down with journalist and historian Dick Kreck at the historic Brown Palace hotel for a conversation about the history of the Wild West and the city of Denver, Colorado in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Before retiring in 2009, Dick spent four decades working as a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, The LA Times, and The Denver Post, and he has published numerous books on the history of Colorado and the west, including Murder at the Brown Palace: A True Story of Seduction and Betrayal (2003) and Hell on Wheels: Wicked Towns Along the Union Pacific Railway (2013). This episode is a rebroadcast of RTN episode #7, which originally launched on June 23rd 2016. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.