Friends & Fellow Citizens

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While everyone knows George Washington as the Father of our country, he could have had anything he wanted after the American Revolution. Virtually no human being would refuse the guarantee of absolute power. There were even some who wanted him to be a king.

But Washington refused a crown.

Richard Lim, a podcast host and author of the book Refusing a Crown: How George Washington Changed the World, shares with us fascinating insight into Washington's values and decisions that changed our country and world forever. Learn why (in the words of Benjamin Franklin) we have a republic...if we can keep it.

Get your copy of Richard's book!

Check out Richard's podcast This American President!

Support the show

Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org to sign up for our e-mail list! The site is the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!
JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $25 membership level!

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All views presented by guests are solely those of the interviewees themselves and may or may not represent the views of their affiliated organizations, the host, Friends & Fellow Citizens, and/or The George Washington Institute.

The famous, unresolved question "Who discovered America?" is still one that we Americans still ask ourselves.

But when we think of explorers, we should also think of those who explored and shaped our institutions. One of our most notable "explorers" is Henry Clay.

Dr. Jacob Wood, Editorial Specialist at the Kentucky Historical Society, discusses the significance and impact of one of America's most notable political leaders. We even delve into the connection between Clay and Lincoln!

Check out the Kentucky Historical Society website and make a visit to the state capital of Frankfort!

Support the show

Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org to sign up for our e-mail list! The site is the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!
JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $25 membership level!

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All views presented by guests are solely those of the interviewees themselves and may or may not represent the views of their affiliated organizations, the host, Friends & Fellow Citizens, and/or The George Washington Institute.

Adoption of the Declaration of Independence could not simply appear out of nowhere, so it must be proposed as part of a resolution. Which signer proposed the resolution that led to the most notable document in American history?

Learn how Richard Henry Lee, a Signer who grew up under difficult circumstances, developed his character for defying authority and became one of the most passionate supporters for independence.

Support the show

Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org to sign up for our e-mail list! The site is the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!
JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $25 membership level!

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All views presented by guests are solely those of the interviewees themselves and may or may not represent the views of their affiliated organizations, the host, Friends & Fellow Citizens, and/or The George Washington Institute.

When most people think of environmental protection in this day and age of volatile weather and political climate, they think of government interventionism, coercion, and agencies.

But with the right incentives, is government always the answer? Or are there solutions that make economic and sustainability sense to foster environmental stewardship instead of coercion?

We are delighted to be joined by Hannah Downey, Associate VP of Policy at PERC, and Gabriella Hoffman, a freelance journalist and podcast host. They share with us the many ways American policymakers can use market-based incentives to achieve realistic energy outcomes and make citizens want to participate and protect the environment.

Learn more about PERC at perc.org!

Check out Gabriella's podcast District of Conservation!

Support the show

Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org to sign up for our e-mail list! The site is the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!
JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $25 membership level!

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All views presented by guests are solely those of the interviewees themselves and may or may not represent the views of their affiliated organizations, the host, Friends & Fellow Citizens, and/or The George Washington Institute.

Watch this video episode on our YouTube channel!

Happy Constitution Day the year of America's 250th birthday!

He was only one of six Signers to place his signature on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. 

He is the man who was one of the major architects of our federal government. 

He became arguably the biggest defender of democracy among the Founders.

And yet, his name has been largely forgotten.

His name is not Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, or Franklin. 

His name is James Wilson, the Founding Father you have never heard of before.

Jesse Wegman, Senior Fellow at the Brennan Center and a former NYT opinion columnist, shares his fascination of Wilson and his contributions, oddities, and even survival from a mob attack. Hear how Wilson's arguments and contributions shaped the Constitution and made a lasting impact on the country we call home today.

Get your copy of The Lost Founder!

Check out Jesse's website at jessewegman.com!

Follow Jesse on his Substack "Major Questions with Jesse Wegman"!

Support the show

Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org to sign up for our e-mail list! The site is the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!
JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $25 membership level!

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All views presented by guests are solely those of the interviewees themselves and may or may not represent the views of their affiliated organizations, the host, Friends & Fellow Citizens, and/or The George Washington Institute.

Thank you to the guests who joined our show in the past year! Here's to another incredible year of content in our 7th season of podcasting!

Before our Constitution was even drafted, the Founding Fathers wanted to create a seal that represented the new country and its ideals. How easy or difficult was it to create the famous design? Learn how a largely forgotten Founder Charles Thomson helped finalize the Seal of the United States that has been a fixture representing our country and principles for about a quarter of a millennium!

Music credits: 

Strauss, Johann.
“Blue Danube" 2017. YouTube Music. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5F--6fDrE-o&si=A8F_V8dt1w8BVfIz.

Support the show

Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org to sign up for our e-mail list! The site is the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!
JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $25 membership level!

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All views presented by guests are solely those of the interviewees themselves and may or may not represent the views of their affiliated organizations, the host, Friends & Fellow Citizens, and/or The George Washington Institute.

A quarter of a century ago, we lost the lives of nearly 3,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia on September 11, 2001. Nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked and crashed four commercial airplanes into the World Trade Center (WTC), the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, PA. Since that day, several thousand have tragically died from 9/11-related illnesses, with tens of thousands today still battling those illnesses.

One of those survivors and firefighters is here today to share his 9/11 story.

Joe Torrillo, a retired 25-year FDNY lieutenant from Brooklyn, spent the first fifteen years of his firefighting career at Engine Company #10 directly across the South Tower of the WTC. By the Grace of God, he survived the collapse of the South Tower and then the North Tower, resulting in life-long injuries. Hear how Joe reflects on 9/11 as we remember those we lost 25 years ago.

Please visit Joe's website to learn more about his work: joetorrillo.com

Support the show

Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org to sign up for our e-mail list! The site is the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!
JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $25 membership level!

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All views presented by guests are solely those of the interviewees themselves and may or may not represent the views of their affiliated organizations, the host, Friends & Fellow Citizens, and/or The George Washington Institute.

Watch the YouTube version HERE!

You might have heard the expression "the pen is mightier than the sword." So who "wrote" the Revolution and has been considered the Penman of the American Revolution? John Dickinson was the man behind many critical pillars of our country's founding, and some believe he has been forgotten for too long.

Dr. Jane Calvert, author and scholar who runs the John Dickinson Writings Project, is at the forefront of illuminating Dickinson's legacy today. Hear how Dickinson's political wit and penmanship made this Founding Father a celebrity of his time and a brilliant thinker behind the U.S. Constitution.

Learn more about Jane Calvert at her website drjanecalvert.org!

Click here to purchase her book Penman of the Founding on Amazon!

Support the work of the John Dickinson Writings Project at jdproject.org!

Support the show

Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org to sign up for our e-mail list! The site is the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!
JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $25 membership level!

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All views presented by guests are solely those of the interviewees themselves and may or may not represent the views of their affiliated organizations, the host, Friends & Fellow Citizens, and/or The George Washington Institute.

What do famous names like Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Marshall have in common? They all had a common teacher who became the first signatory from the Commonwealth of Virginia to sign the Declaration: George Wythe. Learn how Wythe's influence shaped the Signers and how the Virginian became one of the premier minds of the law during his time.

Support the show

Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org to sign up for our e-mail list! The site is the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!
JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $25 membership level!

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All views presented by guests are solely those of the interviewees themselves and may or may not represent the views of their affiliated organizations, the host, Friends & Fellow Citizens, and/or The George Washington Institute.

Click here to watch this episode on YouTube!

Several big names have defined the Supreme Court: John Marshall, Roger Taney, Earl Warren, Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg,... But there is another Justice who has arguably been one of the most influential in the past 20+ years: Justice Samuel Alito.

From his new book Revenge For the Sixties, award-winning journalist and former executive director of POLITICO Peter Canellos shares the fascinating upbringing, philosophy, and style that made Justice Alito a pioneer of the conservative legal movement. He also provides a preview of his other book about another interesting Justice named John Marshall Harlan, who notably was the lone dissenter in Plessy v. Ferguson.

This is a fascinating topic for everyone interested in the Supreme Court and our judiciary system!

Get Peter's new book Revenge For the Sixties!

Check out Peter's other book about John Marshall Harlan The Great Dissenter!

Support the show

Visit georgewashingtoninstitute.org to sign up for our e-mail list! The site is the one-stop shop of all things Friends & Fellow Citizens and George Washington Institute!
JOIN as a Patreon supporter and receive a FREE Friends & Fellow Citizens mug at the $25 membership level!

IMPORTANT NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All views expressed by the host are presented in his personal capacity and do not officially represent the views of any affiliated organizations. All views presented by guests are solely those of the interviewees themselves and may or may not represent the views of their affiliated organizations, the host, Friends & Fellow Citizens, and/or The George Washington Institute.