David Garrow is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, best known for his biography on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. published in 1986. His new book is out in May, a comprehensive biography of America’s 44th president. In this episode, David discusses Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, as well as other current events including Trump’s election, the Supreme Court, and the current state of academia.

Show Notes

• What he was doing on election night and who he voted for
• How the rise of the Internet has dramatically altered US politics
• What David thought about the dossier and Buzzfeed’s publishing of it
• Trump’s Russia connection and if there are people in the intelligence community who are trying to take down Donald
• Trump
• Why there is no chance that Obama wiretapped Donald Trump during the election
• Why he thinks Gorsuch should be confirmed
• What has happened the the politicizing of the Supreme Court
• Why David thinks there should be a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court Justices
• David’s rich understand of Justice Clarence Thomas
• How Barack Obama become a politician at the Illinois State Legislature
• What Obama would disagree with in this biography of him
• What he thinks about Barack’s reaction to Trump’s election
• Why David is disappointed in the current state of academia
• What happened when he won the Pulitzer Prize at 33 years old

Links

• Bearing the Cross
• Rising Star
• DavidGarrow.com