The American Idea
By Ashbrook Center
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Subscribers: 2
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Episodes: 232
Apr 5, 2026
Description
The American Idea explores America's history and principles and what they mean today. The podcast is a production of the Ashbrook Center and hosted by Dr. Jeff Sikkenga.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
School Choice: The Past, Present, and Future of a Movement
|
May 20, 2026 |
|
"Mischievous Cousins' - A British Perspective on the American Revolution
|
May 13, 2026 |
|
From 1776 to Civil Rights: How the Declaration Shaped the Struggle for Equality
|
May 06, 2026 |
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Ronald Reagan and the Declaration of Independence
|
Apr 29, 2026 |
|
From Madison to Modern Politics: The Separation of Powers Debate
|
Apr 21, 2026 |
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Mobilize: How to Reboot the American Industrial Base and Prevent World War III
|
Apr 15, 2026 |
|
Missouri v. Biden: Free Speech, Coercion, and Government Power
|
Apr 08, 2026 |
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Natural Rights: The Declaration's Central Claim
|
Apr 01, 2026 |
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The Causes and Politics of Financial Bubbles
|
Mar 25, 2026 |
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Did FDR Threaten the Fundamental Freedoms in the Bill of Rights?
|
Mar 18, 2026 |
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Thomas Willing: The Revolution’s Forgotten Financier
|
Mar 11, 2026 |
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What Can We Learn from the Antifederalists?
|
Mar 04, 2026 |
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James Madison and The Federalist
|
Feb 25, 2026 |
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How to Read The Federalist
|
Feb 18, 2026 |
|
George Washington - The Indispensable Founding Father
|
Feb 11, 2026 |
|
Thomas Jefferson: Essential American Founder
|
Feb 04, 2026 |
|
Huey Long - American Populist
|
Jan 28, 2026 |
|
Women’s Suffrage, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the Declaration of Independence
|
Jan 21, 2026 |
|
What Makes Americans a "Declarational" People?
|
Jan 14, 2026 |
|
The American Revolution and the Fate of the World
|
Jan 07, 2026 |
|
2025 End of Year Message: Looking Back and Forward
|
Dec 31, 2025 |
|
Special Episode: Born American, But in the Wrong Place
|
Dec 24, 2025 |
|
How Does the Declaration of Independence Influence the Constitution?
|
Dec 17, 2025 |
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When in the Course of Human Events: Creating the Declaration of Independence
|
Dec 10, 2025 |
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“If they mean to have a war...”: The Causes of the American Revolution
|
Dec 03, 2025 |
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What Did Frederick Douglass Think of Abraham Lincoln?
|
Nov 26, 2025 |
|
The Constitution and the Rule of Law
|
Nov 19, 2025 |
|
Want to Understand America? Study the Gettysburg Address
|
Nov 12, 2025 |
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Entitlement Reform: A Problem We Can No Longer Avoid
|
Nov 05, 2025 |
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Inside Camp David - The Private World of the Presidential Retreat
|
Oct 29, 2025 |
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Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist
|
Oct 22, 2025 |
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What Can We Learn from Herbert Hoover?
|
Oct 15, 2025 |
|
Taking Manhattan - The Creation of New York
|
Oct 08, 2025 |
|
The Pathfinder and the President: John C. Fremont, Abraham Lincoln, and the Civil War
|
Oct 01, 2025 |
|
Congress: What It Was Meant to Be and What It's Become5
|
Sep 24, 2025 |
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The Constitutional Convention was a Four-Act Drama
|
Sep 17, 2025 |
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The American Way of War
|
Sep 10, 2025 |
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What are Capital Markets and How Do They Impact Our Economy?
|
Sep 03, 2025 |
|
Old Man Eloquent: The Life and Letters of John Quincy Adams
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Aug 27, 2025 |
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Frederick Douglass's Constitutional Abolitionism
|
Aug 20, 2025 |
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The End of World War 2 in the Pacific: VJ Day at 80 Years
|
Aug 13, 2025 |
|
"A Most Fearful Evil" - What is the National Debt and Why Should You Care About It?
|
Aug 06, 2025 |
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Mercy Otis Warren - America's Forgotten Founding Historian and Thinker
|
Jul 30, 2025 |
|
Not the Arbiter of Truth - America's Complicated History of a Free Press
|
Jul 23, 2025 |
|
Inside the Reagan White House: A Conversation with Ambassador Frank Lavin
|
Jul 16, 2025 |
|
2025 United States Supreme Court Decisions - Commentary and Analysis
|
Jul 09, 2025 |
|
America's First Core Document - The Declaration of Independence
|
Jul 02, 2025 |
|
All the Presidents' Money: How the Men Who Governed America Governed Their Money
|
Jun 25, 2025 |
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Sir William Blackstone's Influence on the American Founding
|
Jun 18, 2025 |
|
Why and How Did Slaveholders Oppose Free Speech?
|
Jun 10, 2025 |
|
Paul Nitze - America's Cold Warrior
|
Jun 04, 2025 |
|
The Extinction of Experience - Reclaiming Our Humanity in the Face of Technology
|
May 28, 2025 |
|
America's Place in the World - Empire, Neighbor, or Something Else?
|
May 21, 2025 |
|
Trump, Trade, and Tariffs - Historical Background and Current Analysis
|
May 14, 2025 |
|
VE Day at 80 Years - The End of WW2 in Europe
|
May 07, 2025 |
|
The Challenges of Creating an American Grand Strategy
|
Apr 30, 2025 |
|
No Fun Anymore: What's Happened to the NBA?
|
Apr 23, 2025 |
|
Lexington & Concord at 250 Years: Stories from the American Revolution
|
Apr 16, 2025 |
|
Do the Democrats Have an Ideology Problem?
|
Apr 09, 2025 |
|
Lessons in Liberty: What We Can Learn From the Lives of 10 Extraordinary Americans
|
Apr 02, 2025 |
|
The Statesmanship of Ronald Reagan
|
Mar 26, 2025 |
|
Abigail Adams: John's Confidant, Partner, and Advisor
|
Mar 19, 2025 |
|
Sleep Training the American People?
|
Mar 12, 2025 |
|
A Speech That Mattered - Lincoln's Second Inaugural
|
Mar 05, 2025 |
|
Adding the Lone Star - The Annexation and Statehood of Texas
|
Feb 26, 2025 |
|
The Conductor: America's Forgotten Father of the Abolition Movement
|
Feb 19, 2025 |
|
America's Foreign Policy Challenges as of Early 2025
|
Feb 12, 2025 |
|
Lincoln and the Presidential Pardon Power
|
Feb 05, 2025 |
|
Jimmy Carter - His Presidency, Politics, and Legacy
|
Jan 29, 2025 |
|
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Reconciliation
|
Jan 22, 2025 |
|
New Year, Same Problem: Our National Debt and Its Implications
|
Jan 15, 2025 |
|
America First - FDR vs Charles Lindbergh in the Shadow of War
|
Jan 08, 2025 |
|
Making the Presidency - John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic
|
Jan 01, 2025 |
|
Born American, But in the Wrong Place - A Special Episode of The American Idea
|
Dec 25, 2024 |
|
The Work of a Press Secretary: Politics and Perceptions | Contemporary Conversations
|
Dec 18, 2024 |
|
The Nazis' Last Gasp: The Battle of the Bulge at 80 Years
|
Dec 11, 2024 |
|
The Power and the Money - When Presidents and Captains of Industry Clash
|
Dec 04, 2024 |
|
Presidential Scandals - Crimes and Moral Failings From the Founding to the Present
|
Nov 27, 2024 |
|
America's Military Recruiting Crisis
|
Nov 20, 2024 |
|
Elections of 2024 - Analysis, Commentary, and Reflections
|
Nov 13, 2024 |
|
Angry American Politics - What We Can Learn From The Election of 1800
|
Nov 06, 2024 |
|
Freedom of the Press and the Rise of the Citizen Journalist
|
Oct 30, 2024 |
|
MacArthur's Return to the Philippines at 80 Years
|
Oct 23, 2024 |
|
Chinese Malware Apps - A Trojan Horse in Your Pocket
|
Oct 16, 2024 |
|
Civics Education - A Matter of the Heart and the Mind
|
Oct 09, 2024 |
|
The Anti Discrimination Regime - What is it and what does it mean for Liberty?
|
Oct 02, 2024 |
|
Operation Market-Garden at 80 Years: WW2's Last Massive Airborne Assault
|
Sep 25, 2024 |
|
Constitution Day 2024 with Jeff Sessions
|
Sep 18, 2024 |
|
National Prosperity and Free Enterprise - Is There a Connection?
|
Sep 11, 2024 |
|
Post-Conventions 2024 Elections Analysis: Where Do Things Stand?
|
Sep 03, 2024 |
|
Leadership Lessons from Two Legendary Coaches
|
Aug 28, 2024 |
|
Do Political Party Conventions Serve a Purpose Anymore?
|
Aug 21, 2024 |
|
U.S. Energy Policy: Opportunity and Self-Inflicted Wounds
|
Aug 14, 2024 |
|
The Crisis in Civic Education - What's Wrong and What Can We Do About It?
|
Aug 07, 2024 |
|
Free Speech - The Indispensable Right, with Jonathan Turley
|
Jul 31, 2024 |
|
2024 Supreme Court Decisions - Review and Analysis
|
Jul 24, 2024 |
|
Bullets Not Ballots? Political Violence in American History
|
Jul 17, 2024 |
|
Like a Bull Moose - Theodore Roosevelt and the Impact of Third Parties
|
Jul 10, 2024 |
|
“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” - Frederick Douglass Teaches Us About Independence Day
|
Jul 03, 2024 |
|
"Charging Forward?" The History and Current Debate Over Electric Vehicles
|
Jun 26, 2024 |
|
Deadly Experiments - Contemporary Drug Policy Fads
|
Jun 19, 2024 |
|
How Much Power Does the Constitution Really Give a President? | Documents & Debates
|
Jun 12, 2024 |
|
D-Day at 80 Years: What Operation Overlord Accomplished
|
Jun 05, 2024 |
|
Bringing Home Forgotten MIAs - Memorial Day 2024 with Project Recover
|
May 29, 2024 |
|
When Disaster Strikes: Presidents and Emergencies | Documents & Debates
|
May 22, 2024 |
|
Energy and the Environment - Are Things as Bad as We're Told?
|
May 15, 2024 |
|
Did Federal Officials Pressure Social Media Companies to Censor Americans?
|
May 08, 2024 |
|
A Conversation with Vivek Ramaswamy
|
May 01, 2024 |
|
Bombing Hitler's Hometown - the Untold Story of the Last Mass Bombing Raid Over Europe in WW2 | Documents & Debates
|
Apr 24, 2024 |
|
World War 1's Far-Reaching Impact on America | Documents & Debates
|
Apr 17, 2024 |
|
The Importance of Good Local Government | American Core Ideas
|
Apr 10, 2024 |
|
Servant Leadership and Building a Winning Team | American Core Ideas
|
Apr 03, 2024 |
|
Perspectives on Leadership and Current Threats to America with Congressman Jim Jordan
|
Mar 27, 2024 |
|
China's Trojan Horse? Tik Tok and the Information Wars
|
Mar 20, 2024 |
|
The Harlem Renaissance - A Uniquely American Movement | Documents & Debates
|
Mar 13, 2024 |
|
Clear and Present Danger: The Use and Abuse of Presidential War Powers
|
Mar 06, 2024 |
|
Civilian-Military Relations from the Founding to Today
|
Feb 28, 2024 |
|
Not Getting What We're Paying For: U.S. Healthcare Policy
|
Feb 21, 2024 |
|
U.S. Energy Policy - The Pursuit of Failure
|
Feb 14, 2024 |
|
The Chevron Doctrine: What is it and How Does it Challenge Our Constitutional System?
|
Feb 07, 2024 |
|
Political Parties - Not Part of the Plan But There From the Beginning | Documents & Debates
|
Jan 31, 2024 |
|
The Hostage Crisis and America's Troubles with Iran | Documents & Debates
|
Jan 24, 2024 |
|
Jefferson, Race, and Slavery: A New Perspective
|
Jan 17, 2024 |
|
Parental Rights in Education | Contemporary Conversations
|
Jan 10, 2024 |
|
Core American Ideas: The Electoral College
|
Jan 03, 2024 |
|
American Portraits - Jazz: America's Classical Music
|
Dec 27, 2023 |
|
John Brown - American Extremist | American Portraits
|
Dec 20, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: Shipwrecked - A True Civil War Story
|
Dec 13, 2023 |
|
All the Troubles in the World: An Update on Israel, Ukraine, and China
|
Dec 06, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: Nixon, China, and Ramifications for Today
|
Nov 29, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: JFK's Assassination at 60 Years
|
Nov 22, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: The Gettysburg Address at 160 Years
|
Nov 15, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: The Battle of Tarawa at 80 Years
|
Nov 08, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: CRT, Identitarianism, and the Struggle for America's Heart and Mind
|
Nov 01, 2023 |
|
The Battle for the Speaker's Gavel | Contemporary Conversations
|
Oct 24, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: Court Packing Then, and Now?
|
Oct 18, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: American Exceptionalism and the Civil War
|
Oct 11, 2023 |
|
Core American Ideas: Separation of Powers - Why it Matters; Why We Should Care
|
Oct 04, 2023 |
|
American Portraits: Last Summer Boys
|
Sep 27, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Ohio Attorney General David Yost on Constitution Day 2023
|
Sep 20, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: A "Post-America" American History?
|
Sep 13, 2023 |
|
Core American Ideas: Natural Rights and Limited Government
|
Sep 06, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: A Student's Journey
|
Aug 30, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: The Summer of Beer & Whiskey
|
Aug 23, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: Oppenheimer - Hollywood and History
|
Aug 16, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: Reconsidering the Atomic Bombs
|
Aug 09, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debate: LBJ, Vietnam, and the Cold War
|
Aug 02, 2023 |
|
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy Speaks About the Rule of Law
|
Aug 01, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: "To Address You As My Friend": African-Americans' Letters to Lincoln
|
Jul 26, 2023 |
|
American Portraits: James Garfield
|
Jul 19, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: School Censorship? It's Complicated...
|
Jul 12, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: The Battle of Gettysburg at 160 Years
|
Jul 05, 2023 |
|
Rapid Reaction: June 2023 Supreme Court Decisions
|
Jun 30, 2023 |
|
American Portraits: John C. Calhoun - American Heretic
|
Jun 28, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: FDR, Stalin, and the Rise of Russia as a World Power
|
Jun 21, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: Bank Failures and Federal Reserve Policy
|
Jun 14, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Religious Liberty, the First Amendment, and the Courts
|
Jun 07, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: The Miracle of Lincoln's Nomination in 1860
|
May 31, 2023 |
|
American Portraits: Ernest Hemingway - American Icon
|
May 24, 2023 |
|
Documents and Debates: Don't Forget About Vicksburg
|
May 17, 2023 |
|
American Portraits: Alexander Hamilton
|
May 10, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: America's First Constitution - the Articles of Confederation
|
May 03, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: War in Ukraine
|
Apr 26, 2023 |
|
Born American, But in the Wrong Place
|
Apr 24, 2023 |
|
Documents and Debates: Stories from the American Revolution
|
Apr 19, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: Remember the Alamo!
|
Apr 12, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: The Legacy of the Progressives
|
Apr 05, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: Ronald Reagan and the End of the Cold War
|
Mar 29, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Censorship and Banned Books
|
Mar 22, 2023 |
|
American Portraits: The Western in American Political Culture
|
Mar 15, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: The 1619 Project and Telling America's Story
|
Mar 08, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: War with China?
|
Mar 01, 2023 |
|
Documents and Debates: The President and the Freedom Fighter
|
Feb 22, 2023 |
|
American Portraits: Ulysses S. Grant
|
Feb 15, 2023 |
|
American Portraits: Calvin Coolidge
|
Feb 08, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: War - What's It Good For? The Expansion of Presidential Emergency Powers from the Founding to the Present
|
Feb 01, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: January 2023: The New Congress - Analysis and Historical Commentary
|
Jan 25, 2023 |
|
Documents and Debates: American? Or Victim of America? MLK and Malcom X
|
Jan 18, 2023 |
|
Contemporary Conversations: Back to School and the State of American Education
|
Jan 11, 2023 |
|
Documents & Debates: The Final Emancipation Proclamation
|
Jan 04, 2023 |
|
Ronald Reagan and the Fight for Freedom
|
Dec 28, 2022 |
|
Truck, Barter, and Exchange: Adam Smith’s Views on Trade, Economics, and Interpersonal Relations
|
Dec 21, 2022 |
|
Winston Churchill - Honorary American
|
Dec 14, 2022 |
|
Turning Points in World War 2
|
Dec 08, 2022 |
|
Free Speech and the State of the American University
|
Nov 30, 2022 |
|
The Great Society - A New History
|
Nov 23, 2022 |
|
Can We Save America? Abraham Lincoln and Our Troubled Politics
|
Nov 16, 2022 |
|
Elections 2022: Analysis and Commentary with UVA's Jim Ceaser
|
Nov 10, 2022 |
|
The American Idea | Secretary Mike Pompeo
|
Nov 02, 2022 |
|
The Battle for the Suburbs with Congressman Troy Balderson | Contemporary Conversations
|
Oct 26, 2022 |
|
The 2022 MIdterm Elections: Analysis and Forecasts
|
Oct 19, 2022 |
|
Upcoming Supreme Court Cases Worth Knowing About
|
Oct 05, 2022 |
|
Money is Not Wealth: What History Can Teach Us About Inflation
|
Sep 21, 2022 |
|
The Constitutional Convention of 1787 with Gordon Lloyd and Chris Burkett | Documents and Debates
|
Sep 07, 2022 |
|
Martin Luther King Jr. and Critical Race Theory with Peter Myers | Contemporary Conversations
|
Aug 24, 2022 |
|
Feminism and the #MeToo Movement | Taylor
|
Aug 10, 2022 |
|
John F. Kennedy and the Cold War with Stephen Knott | Documents and Debates
|
Jul 27, 2022 |
|
Rival Friends: The Adams-Jefferson Correspondence with Cara Rogers | Documents and Debates
|
Jul 13, 2022 |
|
The Declaration of Independence | Documents and Debates
|
Jun 29, 2022 |
|
Roe v. Wade Overturned and Other Historic Decisions of the Supreme Court's 2021-22 Term
|
Jun 27, 2022 |
|
Ralph Ellison, Juneteenth, and the Connection Between Literature, Culture, and Politics | Documents & Debates
|
Jun 15, 2022 |
|
Heroes of the Civil War | Documents and Debates
|
Jun 01, 2022 |
|
The Great Triumvirate with Jason Stevens | Documents and Debates
|
May 18, 2022 |
|
The Crisis of Civic Education: What Can We Do? with David Davenport | Contemporary Conversations
|
May 04, 2022 |
|
King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail with Greg McBrayer | Documents and Debates
|
Apr 06, 2022 |
|
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin with Chris Burkett | Documents and Debates
|
Mar 23, 2022 |
|
George W. Bush with Stephen Knott | Presidential Portraits
|
Mar 09, 2022 |
|
Thomas Jefferson and Race with Cara Rogers | Documents and Debates
|
Feb 23, 2022 |
|
George Washington with Marc Landy | Presidential Portraits
|
Feb 09, 2022 |
|
The Unbroken Thread with Sohrab Ahmari | Contemporary Conversations
|
Jan 26, 2022 |
|
The Reagan Revolution with Greg McBrayer and John Moser | Documents and Debates
|
Jan 12, 2022 |
|
A Year in Review and Donor Conversations | Special Episode
|
Dec 31, 2021 |
|
The Collapse of Civic Education with Ken Starr | Contemporary Conversations
|
Dec 29, 2021 |
|
Peter W. Schramm's "Born American, but in the Wrong Place" | Special Episode
|
Dec 15, 2021 |
|
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" with Peter Myers | Documents and Debates
|
Dec 01, 2021 |
|
FDR, the Election of 1932, and the Birth of New Deal America with John Moser | Documents and Debates
|
Nov 17, 2021 |
|
The Evolution of the Vice Presidency with Stephen Knott | Contemporary Conversations
|
Nov 04, 2021 |
|
Vice President Mike Pence | Contemporary Conversations
|
Nov 03, 2021 |
|
How Should We Interpret the Constitution? with Donald Drakeman | Contemporary Conversations
|
Oct 27, 2021 |
|
Why the Progressive Era is Still Relevant Today with Jason Stevens | Documents and Debates
|
Oct 20, 2021 |
|
Susan B. Anthony, Founding Principles, and the Women's Suffrage Movement with Natalie Taylor | Documents and Debates
|
Oct 05, 2021 |
|
Democracy and American Prophets with Daniel Gullotta | Contemporary Conversations
|
Sep 29, 2021 |
|
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address with Lucas Morel | Documents and Debates
|
Sep 22, 2021 |
|
Free Speech and Journalism in American History with Joe Fornieri | Contemporary Conversations
|
Sep 17, 2021 |
|
Fox News Contributor Mollie Hemingway | Contemporary Conversations
|
Sep 13, 2021 |
|
The Gettysburg Address with Jason Stevens | Documents and Debates
|
Sep 08, 2021 |
|
"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" with Lucas Morel | Documents and Debates
|
Aug 25, 2021 |
|
Jefferson's Letters to Weightman and Lee with Cara Rogers | Documents and Debates
|
Aug 11, 2021 |
|
Washington's Farewell Address with Chris Burkett | Documents and Debates
|
Jul 28, 2021 |
|
Madison's Federalist Papers with Greg McBrayer | Documents and Debates
|
Jul 14, 2021 |
|
The Declaration of Independence with Chris Burkett | Documents and Debates
|
Jun 30, 2021 |
|
What is the American Idea? | Podcast Trailer
|
Mar 26, 2021 |