Complicated, controversial, and consequential, Senator Edward Kennedy was a titan of American political life. On this week's “Leaders and Legends” podcast, we speak with award-winning author John A. Farrell about his highly praised biography of the scarred scion of one of our country’s most influential families.

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The senseless and brutal murders of middle school students Abigail Williams and Liberty German in the small Indiana city of Delphi shocked the world. On this week's “Leaders and Legends” podcast, our conversation is with Áine Cain and Kevin Greenlee, authors of the superb but haunting book “Shadow of the Bridge: The Delphi Murders and the Dark Side of the American Heartland.” 

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If there is a role in politics at which Anne Hathaway hasn’t excelled, I don’t know what it could possibly be. On this week's “Leaders and Legends” podcast, Hall of Famer Jim Shella and I talk with Anne about paying her dues in the political world, the amazing list of people with whom she’s worked, running national conventions,and what happened when she accidentally changed something written by Mitch Daniels.

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Just exactly how did King James VI of Scotland accede to the English throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603? Was he the right choice? Was he the rightful choice? On this week's leaders and “Leaders and Legends” podcast, we discuss these questions and more with the brilliant and best-selling author Dr Tracy Borman, OBE, author of “The Stolen Crown: Treachery, Deceit, and the Death of the Tudor Dynasty”

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As secretary of defense during the Vietnam War, Robert McNamara presided over one of the most haunting chapters in American military history. His legacy remains, in 2025, as polarizing and controversial as it was nearly 60 years ago. On this week's “Leaders and Legends” podcast, our conversation is with Philip and William Taubman, authors of “McNamara At War: A New History"

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November 1963 was a month of two watershed assassinations: President John F. Kennedy and Ngo Dihn Diem, president of South Vietnam. The murder of these two men dramatically altered the hsitory of the 1960s in the United States and Southeast Asia. On this week's leaders and “Leaders and Legends” podcast, we bring back the world’s pre-emient historian of the Vietnam War, Professor Brian VanDeMark, to discuss how America got more deeply involved in the conflict and why we weren’t able to get out until more than 50,000 Americans were killed.

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Perhaps the greatest intellectual contest in our country’s history pitted Alexander Hamilton against Thomas Jefferson—with the winner still yet to be decided. On this week's “Leaders and Legends” podcast, we interview Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and author of “The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America"

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Greg Ballard is one of the most successful and consequential leaders in this history of Indianapolis. He is also the author of a new book “Urban Republican Mayor: My Story” which details not only his eight years as Indy’s mayor, but also his 23-year service in the United States Marine Corps. From the Super Bowl to leading the fight against RFRA, no elected official in modern Indiana history outlasted and outperformed his critics as did Mayor Ballard.

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Paul Mannweiller served as speaker of the Indiana House on two occasions while spending more than twenty years as a member of the legislature. Paul is this week’s guest on the “Leaders and Legends” podcast—and we are joined by our friend Jim Shella.

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The Penny and Jock Fortune Institute for Civic Leadership and Capitalism at Marian University recently debuted its “Richard G. Lugar Speaker Series” with guests Governor Eric Holcomb and Senator (and Ambassador to the Holy See) Joe Donnelly. It was my great honor to be chosen as facilitator for the discussion & the audio from the event is this week’s “Leaders and Legends” podcast.

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