Joan Waugh is a Professor Emeritus of History at UCLA and a member of CLAFI’s Steering Committee. She has written and lectured extensively about the American Civil War, reconstruction, and the Gilded Age. Her books include An American War: A History of the Civil War Era co-authored with Gary Gallagher, and a prize-winning biography of Ulysses S. Grant, titled Grant: American Hero, American Myth. 

In this episode, Riley Wilson and Joan Waugh discuss General Grant’s life trajectory, his preternatural ability with horses, and why the Gilded Age is relevant to modern America.

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The Office Hours podcast is sponsored by CLAFI, the UCLA Center for Liberal Arts and Free Institutions. CLAFI’s purpose is to study great literary, artistic, and cultural achievements, with particular emphasis on the foundations of free institutions. Through undergraduate course offerings and public events, CLAFI serves UCLA students and faculty as well as the general public.

CLAFI also has a Student Club that, along with promoting and attending the Center’s lectures, hosts its own events such as movie nights, short story readings, and faculty-led seminars. The club also supports student-led projects that promote the liberal arts, like this podcast.

To get involved with the Center or its Student Club, visit our website at clafi.ucla.edu.

Thanks for listening.