Many Things Considered

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is quitting, not forced out by scandal or defeated for re-election, but quitting after only a little more than two years in office. In historical terms that is very unusual. In this episode Marc Johnson explores what has happened to the job of Speaker of the House, assesses Paul Ryan’s tenure and looks back at the last Speaker who tried to run “the people’s house” in a different way – Tom Foley of Washington. Guests are Charles Franklin, the respect...

More than 40 years ago Congress undertook two major investigations into the nation’s intelligence agencies – the House investigation became a political train wreck, while the Senate investigation, led by Idaho Democrat Frank Church, helped create the modern system of intelligence oversight. “When Intelligence was Bipartisan” revisits the Church Committee investigation with some of those involved, with Church’s biographer, Rod Gramer, and with Professor Jennifer Kibbe, an expert on Congression...

Today's House Intelligence Committee member could learn a lot from the Church Committee in the 1970s.

Since the 2016 presidential election various groups that keep track of white supremacist political activity – the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for example – have reported a sharp increase in such activity. Some have suggested we have entered a new phase where white nationalism, a rejection of a racial diverse society and opposition to immigrants has again risen to the surface of American life.

A similar period occurred in 1920s America. The Ku Klux Klan in the 20s enjoyed a revival th...

American foreign and domestic policy is shaped by many factors, but perhaps none is more important or more pervasive than oil – Big Oil. In this episode three political stories from the past – Teapot Dome in the 1920s, Texaco’s role in supporting the winning side in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and the oil crisis of the 1970s – that help shed light on the current state of Big Oil and American Politics. Marc Johnson talks with award winning author Adam Hochschild (Spain in Our Hearts), h...

The business of leaking government secrets has a long, long history and the whole subject of leaking and leaks is complicated. Why do leaks happen? What motivates the leaker? Are leaks good or bad or sometimes vital? In this episode we consider two leaks from history – a pre-World War II leak of U.S. war planning and the celebrated leak of the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Marc Johnson interviews historian Lynne Olson, Daniel Ellsberg biographer Tom Wells, Fredrick Schwartz of the Brennan Center a...

Seventy-five years ago a president signed an Executive Order that resulted in the relocation and incarceration of 120,000 Japanese-Americans, most of them American citizens. The decision was justified by national security concerns, but we now know it was largely driven by racial animus and fear. Now another president promulgates Executive Orders that are also stoked by fear of others. This episode explores how the two events – 75 years apart – are connected and how they have intersected in a ...

Despite what they say almost every politician dislikes the press – too many pesky, probing questions and that constant effort to check real facts and dispute alternative facts. Richard Nixon had perhaps the most contentious relationship with the press in modern times... until Donald J. Trump. In this episode an exploration of presidents and the press and the striking parallels between Nixon and Trump. Lights, camera, roll the presses. History repeats.

It is not likely that many of us have dropped a reference to the Constitution’s emoluments clause into casual conversation. But the once obscure clause is now just one more thing Donald J. Trump has brought to the center of American politics. The founding fathers wrote the prohibition against “emoluments” – gifts, advantages, benefits – into the Constitution because they were profoundly concerned about foreign influence damaging the nation. That old concern is new again.

It is not likely that many of us have dropped a reference to the Constitution’s emoluments clause into casual conversation. But the once obscure clause is now just one more thing Donald J. Trump has brought to the center of American politics. The founding fathers wrote the prohibition against “emoluments” – gifts, advantages, benefits – into the Constitution because they were profoundly concerned about foreign influence damaging the nation. That old concern is new again.