In contemporary political discourse, the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. have often been reduced to a snappy soundbite articulating his "Dream" of seeing his children judged, "not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." In his new biography of King, Jonathan Eig uses tons of new sources, including memoirs and recordings from King's immediate family to paint perhaps the definitive portrait of the most storied Civil Rights leader of the 20th Century. He shows how King's upbringing led him to adopt religion in the cause of freedom. He also illustrates the side of his life that King tried to keep hidden, and shows how that impacted the way he fought for justice in American public life. Eig calls King one of America's Founding Fathers, and this episode will show you why.

Jonathan Eig's website can be found at https://www.jonathaneig.com

Information on his book can be found at https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374719678/kingalife

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