For the Ages: A History Podcast

By New-York Historical Society

History

What's For the Ages: A History Podcast about?

Explore the rich and complex history of the United States and beyond. Produced by the New-York Historical Society, host David M. Rubenstein engages the nation’s foremost historians and creative thinkers on a wide range of topics, including presidential biography, the nation’s founding, and the people who have shaped the American story. Learn more at nyhistory.org.

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Twilight of the Gods: War i...

05.22.2023

World War II in the Pacific entered its endgame in June 1944, after the U.S. waged a crushing assault on the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. In a conversation that explores the conflict’s harrowing final year—from ...

For the Ages: A History Podcast episodes:

05.22.2023 Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944–1945 World War II in the Pacific entered its endgame in June 1944, after the U.S. waged a crushing assault on the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. In a conversation that explores the conflict’s harrowing final year—from ...
05.15.2023 Our Composite Nation: The Reconstruction of American Democracy in the Age of the Civil War The period of Reconstruction following the Civil War saw a transformation of the United States from a slaveholding republic into an interracial democracy, all alongside the rise of industrial capitalism and the violent and ambitious conquest of the American West. ...
05.08.2023 American Happiness and Discontents: The Unruly Torrent, 2008-2020 For decades, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist George F. Will has been regarded as one of this country’s leading columnists and public intellectuals. In an expansive conversation that encompasses American history, the Supreme Court, and beyond, Will shares his perspective ...
05.01.2023 Hanoi's War: An International History of the War for Peace in Vietnam Half a century later, the contested history of the war in Vietnam continues to elicit national debate, deep soul-searching, and purported lessons for America's role overseas. In a conversation that visits new historical terrain of the Vietnam War past, award-winning ...
04.24.2023 Our First Civil War: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution Long before the first battle of the American Revolution, the conflict between Loyalists and Patriots swept through all facets of American society, with colonists, Native Americans, and the enslaved all forced to choose a side. Would this constitute America’s first ...
04.17.2023 Silent Spring Revolution: American Presidents and the Great Environmental Awakening The post-World War II economic boom came at a high cost: smog made breathing difficult in cities, the oceans were dying, wilderness vanished, and species went extinct at alarming rates. Acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley chronicles how Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, ...
04.10.2023 The Year of Peril: America in 1942 In the United States, World War II is often regarded as a time of unrivaled national unity and optimism, however in reality this traumatic period tested the American resolve in the most significant way since the Civil War. How did ...
04.03.2023 Cuba: An American History Whether you are looking at proxy conflicts during the Cold War, the power of the Cuban-American voting bloc, or how Cuban-American relations are used as a cipher for a president’s foreign policy, the power of Cuba on American politics is ...
03.27.2023 The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis: Part II Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis, once again joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss the culture of violence, vigilantism, and censorship that permeated US government and society in the years ...
03.20.2023 The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis: Part I The US’s entrance into World War I marked the beginning of a period in American history characterized by lynching, aggressive union-busting, mass civilian arrests, and stringent government censorship of the press, all amidst the backdrop of the war, a pandemic, ...
03.13.2023 Ways and Means: How the Confederacy Financed the Civil War Roger Lowenstein once again joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss the complex financial circumstances of the Civil War. In this episode, he explores the financial challenges faced by the Confederacy; looking at the resources they had available to them compared ...
03.06.2023 Ways and Means: How the Union Financed the Civil War For both the Union and the Confederacy, one of the most persistent battles of the Civil War was financing. To meet this challenge head-on both Lincoln and Jefferson Davis attempted a number of strategies to tackle the enormous financial demands ...
02.27.2023 American Inheritance: Slavery and the New Republic How was slavery written into America’s founding? David M. Rubenstein is once again joined by historian Edward J. Larson to discuss this question and explore how legal frameworks around slavery evolved in the new republic. Looking at the battle between ...
02.20.2023 American Inheritance: Slavery in the Revolutionary Era While the Revolutionary War was waged as a fight for freedom, slavery was omnipresent in America before, during, and after the war. In this two-part conversation, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson discusses how the twin strands of liberty and ...
02.13.2023 How to Invest: Masters on the Craft In an age of global economic transformation, what lessons can we learn from the world’s most successful investors? Throughout his career, David M. Rubenstein, co-founder of one of the world’s largest investment firms, has interviewed some of the most internationally ...
02.06.2023 The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People, Part II Author Walter Russell Mead joins David M. Rubenstein once again to examine the connections between Israel, the Jewish people, and American political history. In this conversation, they dive into the history of Jewish people in America, including their experience of ...
01.30.2023 The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People, Part I The nuances of the Israeli-American relationship extend far into the past. Author Walter Russell Mead joins David M. Rubenstein for a two-part conversation to examine the connections between Israeli and American political history. This first of two episodes examines the ...
01.23.2023 Lincoln and Emancipation Edna Greene Medford, professor of history at Howard University, examines the ideas and events that shaped President Lincoln’s responses to slavery, following the arc of his ideological development from the beginning of the Civil War, when he aimed to pursue ...
01.16.2023 And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle A president who governed a divided country has much to teach us in a twenty-first-century moment of polarization and political crisis. Hated and hailed, excoriated, and revered, Abraham Lincoln was at the pinnacle of American power when implacable secessionists gave ...
01.09.2023 The Bald Eagle Part Two: The History of the Bald Eagle in America Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental historian Jack E. Davis once again joins David M. Rubenstein to dive deep into the history, and patriotic symbolism of the bald eagle. In this talk, they discuss how the bald eagle came to be tied to ...
12.26.2022 The Bald Eagle Part One: The Improbable Journey of America's Bird Pulitzer Prize-winning environmental historian Jack E. Davis delves into the story of America’s most famous bird: the bald eagle. In conversation with David M. Rubenstein, Davis explores the story of the bald eagle as a unique and efficient predator predating ...
12.19.2022 My Life in Special Operations: Operation Neptune Spear and the Raid on the bin Laden Compound Admiral William H. McRaven once again joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss some of his most historic military missions as a member of the Navy SEALs and as commander of America’s Special Operations Forces. In this conversation, he outlines his ...
12.12.2022 My Life in Special Operations: The Capture of Saddam Hussein In the first of two conversations centered on his book Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations, Admiral William H. McRaven joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss how growing up the son of a fighter pilot and a Texas schoolteacher ...
12.05.2022 In That Time: Michael O’Donnell and the Tragic Era of Vietnam New York Metropolitan Museum of Art President and CEO Dan Weiss explores the American experience of the Vietnam war through the lens of Michael O’Donnell. O’Donnell, a musician and poet who served as a soldier and helicopter pilot, never fired ...
11.28.2022 Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus While COVID-19 caused tragedy and disruption in ways that few had ever seen before, scientists and infectious disease experts had warned of the likelihood of the ‘next big’ pandemic for decades. While political and economic interests often took precedence over ...
11.21.2022 The Nation That Never Was: Reconstructing America's Story There’s a common story we tell about America: that our fundamental values as a country were stated in the Declaration of Independence, fought for in the Revolution, and made law in the Constitution. But, with the country increasingly divided, are ...
11.14.2022 His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope U.S. Congressman John Lewis (1940–2020) dedicated his life to public service and the pursuit of civil rights. A member of Martin Luther King Jr.’s inner circle, Lewis channeled his faith in humanity and in God to champion nonviolence as not ...
11.07.2022 The Peaceful Transfer of Power: An Oral History of America’s Presidential Transitions The peaceful transfer of power from one U.S. President to another is the most delicate and hazardous period in the entire political cycle. Americans learned the stakes in 2020, when President Donald Trump’s refusal to trigger the formal start of ...
10.24.2022 A Conversation with Tom Brokaw Tom Brokaw, one of the most respected and trusted figures in U.S. broadcast journalism—best known for his more than 20-year tenure as managing editor and sole anchor of NBC Nightly News—joins David M. Rubenstein for an in-depth conversation on his ...
10.17.2022 A Conversation with Annette Gordon-Reed Acclaimed historian Annette Gordon-Reed is renowned for her work uncovering both the political and the private life of one of America’s most celebrated Founders, Thomas Jefferson. In a conversation moderated by American philanthropist David M. Rubenstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author ...
10.10.2022 Presidential Elections and the Supreme Court On the evening of December 12, 2000, following weeks of confusion surrounding the outcome of the recent presidential election, the Supreme Court handed down its decision to halt further vote counting in Florida, thus confirming the electoral victory of George ...
10.03.2022 A Conversation with Billie Jean King Billie Jean King—former No. 1 tennis player in the world and the first female athlete and first member of the LGBT community to be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom—speaks with David M. Rubenstein about her iconic life and ...
09.26.2022 Exercise of Power: American Failures, Successes, and a New Path Forward in the Post-Cold War World How has global perception of the United States shifted since the end of the Cold War? Once seen as a dominant international leader, the country’s reputation has evolved into that of a disorganized entity, seemingly unwilling to accept the mantle ...
09.19.2022 Robert E. Lee: A Life In a tale ranging from Lee’s wealthy but scandal-ridden upbringing in Virginia to his long career in the U.S. Army, award-winning historian Allen C. Guelzo takes a hard look at Lee’s character, including his deceptively genteel demeanor and corrosive insecurities. ...
09.12.2022 A Conversation with Eric Foner Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Eric Foner discusses his illustrious career, including his work on American icons such as Thomas Paine and Abraham Lincoln. In a wide-ranging conversation moderated by David M. Rubenstein, Eric Foner covers his substantial scholarship on the Civil ...
06.27.2022 A Conversation with Louise Mirrer The New-York Historical Society, New York’s first museum, has been a great destination for history since 1804. David M. Rubenstein speaks with New-York Historical’s President and CEO Louise Mirrer about her life and career, as well as the past, present, ...
06.20.2022 How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers What are the qualities of a great leader? For the past five years, David Rubenstein has spoken with some of the world’s most distinguished visionaries in government, finance, technology, and beyond. In a discussion with historian Douglas Brinkley, Rubenstein reveals ...
06.13.2022 Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge In May of 1796, 22-year-old Ona Judge escaped enslavement from the household of the most powerful man in the United States: George Washington. Soon thereafter she became the subject of an intense manhunt led by Washington himself. In a discussion ...
06.06.2022 Three Days at the Brink: FDR’s Daring Gamble to Win World War II Bestselling author and Fox News Channel anchor Bret Baier, in conversation with David M. Rubenstein, illuminates the complex character of Franklin D. Roosevelt through three essential days in Tehran, Iran during November of 1943. Roosevelt, alongside Winston Churchill and Joseph ...
05.23.2022 His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life Jimmy Carter’s term as America’s 39th president has drawn both censure and celebration, resulting in a complex presidential legacy. Drawing on new archival material and five years of extensive access to Carter and his entire family, author Jonathan Alter traces ...
05.16.2022 The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773–1783 Award-winning author and historian Joseph J. Ellis, in conversation with David M. Rubenstein, sheds new light on the War for American Independence. Focusing on 1773 to 1783, Ellis illuminates how the nation’s founders—including George Washington and John Adams, among others—prudently ...
05.09.2022 Abraham Lincoln in His Times Few historical figures are as revered as Abraham Lincoln. From humble beginnings, Lincoln’s enduring desire for self-improvement and extraordinary ability to strike a balance between opposing forces led him to become one of the most consequential figures of the 19th ...
05.02.2022 How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions Serving as Allied Commander during World War II and later as President of the United States, few people have made decisions as momentous and consequential as Dwight D. Eisenhower. Guided by his heritage and upbringing, as well as his strong ...
04.25.2022 JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917–1956 Born in 1917 to a family destined to become one of the most influential in American politics, John F. Kennedy knew ambition from an early age. Focusing on Kennedy's first 39 years, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Fredrik Logevall, in conversation with ...
04.18.2022 A Conversation with Jeffrey Rosen: The Life and Legacy of Justice Ginsburg Starting in the 1990s, Jeffrey Rosen met with Ruth Bader Ginsburg to discuss both her political and personal life, gleaning priceless observations from the Justice about topics ranging from the Constitution to how to be a good listener to the ...
04.11.2022 The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race Bestselling author Walter Isaacson, in conversation with David M. Rubenstein, discusses the life and work of the Nobel Prize-winning Jennifer Doudna who, with her collaborators, created a DNA-editing tool with the power to revolutionize human health. Recorded on February 19, ...
04.04.2022 A Conversation with Brenda Child Scholar Brenda Child sheds light on how America’s first inhabitants were impacted in a wide-ranging discussion that will include President Jackson’s Indian Removal Act, efforts by the American government to expand rights and grant citizenship to native peoples, as well ...
03.28.2022 The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream The American experiment began with a revolutionary idea that a nation could be founded on the principles of democracy, equality, and liberty. In this talk, New-York Historical Society President and CEO Louise Mirrer speaks with David M. Rubenstein about the ...
03.21.2022 Cover Story: Katharine Graham, CEO Publisher Katharine Graham, one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, championed excellence in journalism. Under her leadership, the Washington Post evolved into one of the nation’s most respected news sources and forever changed American history with its ...
03.14.2022 A Conversation with John M. Barry: The Great Influenza At the height of World War I, a lethal influenza virus erupted in an army camp in Kansas, spreading rapidly as it moved east with American troops. The influenza pandemic of 1918 ended up killing as many as 100 million ...

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