An almost mythic figure in American sports history, Jim Thorpe is remembered for his unrivaled athletic talents. He was an Olympic gold medalist, an All-American football player and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and a Major League Baseball player. In spite of his sporting prowess, however, Thorpe’s life was marked by struggle, from the discrimination he faced as a Native American to the controversial rescinding of his Olympic medals. Author David Maraniss joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss the trials and triumphs of an American sports legend.
Recorded on August 23, 2024 

Once a dedicated general of the Confederate army, risking his life in defense of slavery, James Longstreet’s life took an unprecedented turn in the years after America’s bloody civil war. After fighting alongside Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg, Longstreet became a staunch supporter of Black voting rights during Reconstruction and even led an interracial militia into battle against a white supremacist insurrection in Louisiana. Historian Elizabeth Varon joins David Rubenstein for this eye-opening discussion of one of the Civil War’s most complex figures.
Recorded on September 7, 2024 

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Rick Atkinson joins David Rubenstein to uncover the untold stories and moral conflicts—from both the American and British perspective—of the first 21 months of the Revolutionary War. Through the lens of a rich cast of characters, Atkinson makes clear the human consequences of this epic conflict at the dawn of the American story that pitted an ersatz Continental Army against the formidable British empire.
Recorded on February 5, 2024 

The women’s suffrage movement was a hard-fought, decades-long campaign to extend that most essential of democratic rights to all Americans regardless of sex. That protracted struggle would rapidly come to a head in August of 1920 in Tennessee, the final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment. Author and journalist Elaine Weiss talks with David Rubenstein about the struggles of the suffragists against misogynistic politics, members of the church, and even other women in that fateful month when everything hung in the balance.
Recorded on September 25, 2020

Joe Biden’s legacy as America’s 46th president is still in the making. President Biden took office shortly after the attempted coup on January 6th, during the cresting of one of the most fatal waves of COVID-19, and in a period of severe economic disruption. While his historic decision not to seek reelection may prove decisive in the 2024 presidential race, his term as president offers a fascinating picture of his political career and the Democratic party. In conversation with David Rubenstein this February, author and journalist Franklin Foer explores how President Biden attempted to tackle the challenges facing America today.
Recorded on February 20, 2024 

Enshrined in our Constitution and etched into our currency, religion is inextricable from the fabric of American political and social life. The ubiquity of religion in our national history has also made it an elusive, at times contradictory, force in this country’s growth—one that is associated with freedom and tolerance as often as it is with censure and control. Catherine Brekus, professor of American religious history at Harvard Divinity School, joins David Rubenstein to discuss the complex and fascinating role religious practice and expression has played in shaping the United States.
Recorded on November 20, 2020

The US Capitol building is a powerful physical symbol of representative democracy, with its famous dome one of America’s most iconic architectural feats. The solidity and dependability of that symbol, however, belie the dynamic history of the ever-changing building itself. Alan Hantman, architect of the Capitol from 1997 to 2007, joins David M. Rubenstein to provide a personal account of the inner workings of the Capitol, shedding light on who runs the building, how and why it changes over time, and how it has endured crises such as the 1998 US Capitol shooting, 9/11, and January 6.
Recorded on July 8, 2024

Please enjoy this re-release of a past episode of For the Ages. New episodes will return Fall 2024. Henry Louis Gates Jr. has helped reshape the nation’s collective understanding of the legacy of slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the ongoing struggle for racial equality. The storied filmmaker, literary scholar, journalist, cultural critic, and institution builder discusses this important history and how his scholarly work has developed how we learn about and understand the American story.
Recorded on January 22, 2021

Please enjoy this re-release of a past episode of For the Ages. New episodes will return Fall 2024. In 1924, Congress put in place strict quotas that impacted national immigration policy for decades. Interweaving her own family’s story, New York Times deputy national editor Jia Lynn Yang uncovers how presidents from Harry S. Truman through LBJ and a coalition of lawmakers and activists fought to transform the American immigration system.
Recorded on September 11, 2020

Please enjoy this re-release of a past episode of For the Ages. New episodes will return Fall 2024. Walter Isaacson discusses his career as a preeminent historian and biographer, how he chooses the people he writes about, and why he is fascinated by them. This includes his books Steve Jobs, the authorized biography of the Apple Inc. co-founder written by Isaacson at the subject’s request, and Leonardo da Vinci.
Recorded on December 18, 2018