The Road to Now

By RTN Productions

Society & Culture History

What's The Road to Now about?

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
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#291 A Forgotten History of...

12.04.2023

The suburbs have long been a symbol of American prosperity in the post-WWII era. Yet the contrast between suburban wealth and “inner city” poverty overlooks the stories of those living in suburbia who were unable to reach “the good life.” ...

The Road to Now episodes:

12.04.2023 #291 A Forgotten History of American Suburbs w/ Tim Keogh The suburbs have long been a symbol of American prosperity in the post-WWII era. Yet the contrast between suburban wealth and “inner city” poverty overlooks the stories of those living in suburbia who were unable to reach “the good life.” ...
11.27.2023 Photographing the President w/ Pete Souza As the person responsible for documenting the Obama Administration, Pete Souza spent more time with Barack Obama than almost anyone else, which left him with some deep in sights on Obama and the office of the Presidency. In this episode, ...
11.20.2023 Faith in Freedom w/ Andrew Polk 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, ...
11.13.2023 #290 The Circus: An Exit Interview w/ Mark McKinnon Bob welcomes Mark McKinnon for an exit interview about his work as co-producer and co-host of The Circus. Showtime announced last week that after eight seasons and 130 episodes this would be the final season of the political docuseries. Mark ...
11.06.2023 Monsanto’s Past, Our Future w/ Bart Elmore Monsanto’s Past, Our Future w/ Bart Elmore The Monsanto Company officially ceased to exist when it was acquired by Bayer in 2018, but its legacy lives on in courtrooms, factory towns and farms across the globe. Today the company’s name ...
10.30.2023 #289 The Dead Bodies in Your Favorite Museum w/ Tanya Marsh Two things you probably don’t know: 1) your favorite museum probably holds human remains and 2) it’s completely legal to sell human bones on the internet. Not surprisingly, those two things have caused a lot of controversy. In this episode, ...
10.23.2023 #288 Ukraine and Russia: The History Behind the War w/ Serhy Yekelchyk When Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, he and many others assumed that Russia’s “special operation” would end in a quick victory. Eighteen months later, an independent Ukraine stands strong, while Russia’s position has grown ...
10.16.2023 #287 Robert Hanssen: The FBI’s Most Damaging Spy w/ Major Garrett FBI agent Robert Hanssen was one of the most damaging spies in US history. From 1979 to 2001, Hanssen delivered some of the United States governments’ most sensitive secrets to Soviet and Russian agents, who used them to not only ...
10.09.2023 #286 Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music w/ David Menconi From its founding in 1970, Rounder Records was different. What started as the passion project for three New England music lovers who wanted to preserve and proselytize folk and roots music, eventually grew into a record label with an eclectic ...
10.02.2023 #285 The American Buffalo w/ Dayton Duncan In the late 18th century, tens of millions of buffalo lived in North America. By the mid-1880s, they were on the brink of extinction. For the white settlers who sought to “conquer” the American west, and the Native people whose ...
09.25.2023 # 284 Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell on Americana Music What is Americana music? Is it a genre? A community? A refuge? Twenty four years after the founding of the Americana Music Association and thirteen years since the first Grammy was awarded for Best Americana Album, defining “Americana” remains tricky. ...
09.18.2023 Celebrating Levon Helm w/ John Barry & Larry Campbell Although he passed away a decade ago, Levon Helm is still the voice of Americana music. Always will be, in my opinion. Levon was drummer for The Band, collaborator with Bob Dylan, actor, husband, father, and friend. In his new ...
09.11.2023 #283 The Singers Talk w/ Jason Thomas Gordon Jason Thomas Gordon spent nearly a decade interviewing some of the greatest vocalists in modern music to find out about their earliest experiences singing, the voices that influenced them growing up, and how they learned to find their own unique ...
09.04.2023 The Kinks w/ Mark Doyle The Kinks are one of the great rock bands of the 20th century and, like all artists, they reflect the times and places they’ve inhabited. In this episode, we speak with Mark Doyle about his excellent book The Kinks: Songs ...
08.28.2023 #282 Tecumseh & William Henry Harrison’s Struggle for a Nation w/ Peter Stark The war between the US Army and the Native American confederation during the war of 1812 is a buried story in an often-overlooked event, yet its impact on the history of North America is profound. The leading figures on both ...
08.21.2023 #281 Montgomery C. Meigs: Master Builder of the Union Army w/ Robert O’Harrow Jr. Washington D.C. in the 1850s was a tale of two cities. It was the Capitol city of a rapidly expanding new nation while at the same time ground zero for a politically fractured and divided nation hurtling toward disunion. Standing ...
08.14.2023 #280 Standard Deviations: The politics of education in Florida and beyond w/ Ana Goñi-Lessan & Andrew Polk The recent changes to Florida’s education system have gotten nationwide attention, with similar stories playing out across the US. In this episode, Ben & Bob investigate the nature of these reforms, who is behind them, and how they may impact ...
08.07.2023 #279 Warren G. Harding and Other Affairs w/ Ben & Bob Ben & Bob have been on the road for most of the summer, so in this episode they catch up to talk about the 100th anniversary of the death of Warren G. Harding, the feedback they got from their conversation ...
07.31.2023 Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism w/ Edward Baptist Slavery was an integral part of the American republic from the moment of independence until the abolition of the so-called “peculiar institution” with the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865. The social and economic impact of the slave system, ...
07.24.2023 George Carlin's American Dream w/ Michael Bonfiglio & Kliph Nesteroff George Carlin had a comedy career that spanned half a century, and his take on the US remains relevant more than a decade after his death in 2008. The new HBO documentary George Carlin’s American Dream tells Carlin’s story as ...
07.17.2023 #278 Artificial Intelligence w/ Roger McNamee Roger McNamee has spent decades helping American tech companies secure financing. In the last few years, however, he’s become well-known for helping American citizens secure themselves against tech companies. After helping convince Mark Zuckerberg to retain control over Facebook, Roger ...
07.10.2023 The Rise and Fall of the American Suburbs w/ Kyle Riismandel In the years after World War II, Americans moved to the suburbs in search of the peace and safety that many came to equate with the “American Dream.” By the end of the 1970s, however, suburbanites had come sense that ...
07.03.2023 Benjamin Franklin w/ Dayton Duncan & David Schmidt It’s difficult to fathom how Benjamin Franklin accomplished so much in a single lifetime. It’s equally difficult to imagine how to take such an incredible life and consolidate it into four hours of documentary film. In this episode, we cover ...
06.26.2023 #277 The Allman Brothers’ Journey to Fillmore East w/ Bob Beatty The Allman Brothers’ 1971 album At Fillmore East features one of the era’s great rock bands at its prime, selling over a million copies despite not producing a single “hit” song. It is also the last album produced by the ...
06.19.2023 #276 Christianity and American Politics in the 21st Century w/ John Fea John Fea is taking on the history of Christianity and American politics in the 21st century. In three volumes. In this (single) episode, we talk about this tremendous task that John is undertaking and also get his thoughts on why ...
06.12.2023 Juneteenth w/ Annette Gordon-Reed Juneteenth, which celebrates the emancipation of enslaved Americans at the end of the Civil War, has gone from a local holiday in Texas to a national day of celebration for many Americans. In this episode we speak with legal scholar ...
06.05.2023 #275 No Labels w/ Mark McKinnon Mark McKinnon is a political advisor, reform advocate, and host of Showtime’s The Circus. In this episode he joins Ben & Bob to talk about his work to found the non-partisan group No Labels, which advocates for independent candidates in ...
05.29.2023 #274 The Original Green New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps w/ Neil Maher#274 In the last few years, many on the left have been calling for a “Green New Deal,” but we might have already had that. Between 1933 and 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps enlisted more than three million young men in ...
05.22.2023 #273 Seven Years of RTN w/ Doug Heye & Margaret Talev It’s been seven years since Ben & Bob launched the first episode of The Road to Now, so we invited two of our early guests – Doug Heye & Margaret Talev – to join us for a conversation about how ...
05.15.2023 #272 Country Capitalism w/ Bartow Elmore 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 ...
05.08.2023 Reaganland w/ Richard Perlstein Today's Republican party looks a lot different than it did just a few decades ago, but it rests on many of the same organizations and ideologies that formed the modern conservative movement in the 1970s. In this episode, Rick Perlstein ...
05.01.2023 #271 American Ramble w/ Neil King Jr. In 2021, Neil King Jr. threw a few basic items into a backpack and walked from his home in Washington, DC to New York City. Along the way he met new people, uncovered forgotten moments of history, and spent many ...
04.24.2023 #270 Women & American Slavery w/ Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers 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 ...
04.17.2023 #269 The Archaeology of Dust w/ Anita Radini For most of us, dust is a surface-level annoyance. For Anita Radini, it is a fountain of information about the past. In this episode, Anita joins us to share the fascinating new details about the lives of Medieval women that ...
04.10.2023 #268 John Quincy Adams: Founding Son On Thursday, April 13th, the first episode of Bob’s new audio documentary Founding Son: John Quincy’s America premieres (on all podcast platforms), so Ben & Bob decided to celebrate the occasion by talking Adams’ life, his place in American history, ...
04.03.2023 #267 Benghazi w/ Ethan Chorin On September 11, 2012, al-Qaeda-affiliated militants attacked a US mission in Benghazi, Libya and killed four Americans. That tragic loss of life abroad turned into a political fiasco at home, as the story of the attack became interpreted within the ...
03.27.2023 A Conversation w/ Ken Burns (#191 Rebroadcast) Ken Burns joins Bob and Ben for a conversation about American history and the themes he sees playing out in the US today. Ken shares his process for selecting subjects for his films and explains how his new 3-part film ...
03.20.2023 #266 College Basketball: The Story of March Madness w/ Dana O'Neil The Athletic's Dana O'Neil joins Bob & Ben for a conversation about the history of the NCAA tournament, how college basketball built the fan base it has today, and how rule changes have changed the sport from the 3-point line ...
03.13.2023 Baseball in Context w/ Jayson Stark Baseball is part of America’s cultural fabric, and few people know the game and its place in society as well as Jayson Stark. As a celebrated sportswriter, Jayson has witnessed baseball’s transformation for more than four decades and has had ...
03.06.2023 #265 The Legacy of Jimmy Carter’s Foreign Policy w/ Nancy Mitchell Jimmy Carter only served four years as President (1977-1981) but his approach to foreign policy produced big results, including the return of the Panama Canal to Panama, a strategic nuclear arms treaty with the Soviet Union (SALT-II), and US formal ...
02.27.2023 #264 Andrew Young on Jimmy Carter Andrew Young was already an iconic civil rights leader and sitting Congressman from Georgia’s 5th District when a dark horse candidate named Jimmy Carter asked for his support in the 1976 Presidential election. Young found Carter to be an honest ...
02.20.2023 #263 Mourning the Presidents w/ Lindsay Chervinsky A Presidency is defined by the decisions that a person makes while serving as Executive, but a Presidential legacy is about much more than that. In the new book, Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture, (UVA Press, ...
02.18.2023 Crossroads Special: History Daily – Two Stories of Exploration Today we’ve something different that we think you’ll enjoy: two great episodes from our friends at History Daily that we think RTN listeners will really enjoy. The first is the story of Lewis and Clark’s return from their expedition in ...
02.13.2023 #262 Atlanta & Charlotte: Women's History in the Urban South w/ La Shonda Mims In the 20th Century, leaders in Atlanta and Charlotte championed a “New South” vision that they hoped would attract the investment needed to transform their regional trading hubs into world-class urban centers. The success in both cases was undeniable, but ...
02.06.2023 #261 Jordan Gross: Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, Idaho Jordan Gross played 11 seasons as an Offensive Tackle for the Carolina Panthers. In his rookie season, he was a starting member of the Panthers team that made it to Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004. In his final season (2011) ...
01.30.2023 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 ...
01.23.2023 #260 Presidential Transitions w/ David Marchick January 20th was the official halfway mark of the Biden Administration’s first term. That might seem like a an odd time to discuss Presidential transitions, but with the justice department still prosecuting participants in the January 6th insurrection it’s never ...
01.16.2023 #259 Silent Spring Revolution w/ Douglas Brinkley At the end of World War II, the United States had few laws protecting the environment. Just 30 years later, the Environmental Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act had been enacted, representing the urgency of, and widespread support for, ...
01.09.2023 #258 The Feres Doctrine (Part II) w/ Maximillian Potter & Richard Stayskal This is part two of our conversation w/ Maximillian Potter & Richard Stayskal. For part 1, check out RTN episode # 257. Since 1950, the Feres Doctrine has prevented active-duty members of the US Armed Forces from suing the government ...
01.02.2023 #257 The Feres Doctrine w/ Maximillian Potter & Richard Stayskal Since 1950, the Feres Doctrine has prevented active-duty members of the US Armed Forces from suing the government for wrongful injury or death that occurred outside of combat. In this episode we speak with journalist Maximillian Potter and decorated Green ...

Older episodes

The Road to Now

What's The Road to Now about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Road to Now episodes:

#291 A Forgotten History of American Suburbs w/ Tim Keogh

Photographing the President w/ Pete Souza

Faith in Freedom w/ Andrew Polk

#290 The Circus: An Exit Interview w/ Mark McKinnon

Monsanto’s Past, Our Future w/ Bart Elmore

#289 The Dead Bodies in Your Favorite Museum w/ Tanya Marsh

#288 Ukraine and Russia: The History Behind the War w/ Serhy Yekelchyk

#287 Robert Hanssen: The FBI’s Most Damaging Spy w/ Major Garrett

#286 Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music w/ David Menconi

#285 The American Buffalo w/ Dayton Duncan

# 284 Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell on Americana Music

Celebrating Levon Helm w/ John Barry & Larry Campbell

#283 The Singers Talk w/ Jason Thomas Gordon

The Kinks w/ Mark Doyle

#282 Tecumseh & William Henry Harrison’s Struggle for a Nation w/ Peter Stark

#281 Montgomery C. Meigs: Master Builder of the Union Army w/ Robert O’Harrow Jr.

#280 Standard Deviations: The politics of education in Florida and beyond w/ Ana Goñi-Lessan & Andrew Polk

#279 Warren G. Harding and Other Affairs w/ Ben & Bob

Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism w/ Edward Baptist

George Carlin's American Dream w/ Michael Bonfiglio & Kliph Nesteroff

#278 Artificial Intelligence w/ Roger McNamee

The Rise and Fall of the American Suburbs w/ Kyle Riismandel

Benjamin Franklin w/ Dayton Duncan & David Schmidt

#277 The Allman Brothers’ Journey to Fillmore East w/ Bob Beatty

#276 Christianity and American Politics in the 21st Century w/ John Fea

Juneteenth w/ Annette Gordon-Reed

#275 No Labels w/ Mark McKinnon

#274 The Original Green New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps w/ Neil Maher#274

#273 Seven Years of RTN w/ Doug Heye & Margaret Talev

#272 Country Capitalism w/ Bartow Elmore

Reaganland w/ Richard Perlstein

#271 American Ramble w/ Neil King Jr.

#270 Women & American Slavery w/ Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers

#269 The Archaeology of Dust w/ Anita Radini

#268 John Quincy Adams: Founding Son

#267 Benghazi w/ Ethan Chorin

A Conversation w/ Ken Burns (#191 Rebroadcast)

#266 College Basketball: The Story of March Madness w/ Dana O'Neil

Baseball in Context w/ Jayson Stark

#265 The Legacy of Jimmy Carter’s Foreign Policy w/ Nancy Mitchell

#264 Andrew Young on Jimmy Carter

#263 Mourning the Presidents w/ Lindsay Chervinsky

Crossroads Special: History Daily – Two Stories of Exploration

#262 Atlanta & Charlotte: Women's History in the Urban South w/ La Shonda Mims

#261 Jordan Gross: Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, Idaho

Miss America’s Secret Past w/ Amy Argetsinger

#260 Presidential Transitions w/ David Marchick

#259 Silent Spring Revolution w/ Douglas Brinkley

#258 The Feres Doctrine (Part II) w/ Maximillian Potter & Richard Stayskal

#257 The Feres Doctrine w/ Maximillian Potter & Richard Stayskal