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.