In this episode, host Matt Crawford speaks with award-winning journalist Matthew Davis about his book A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore.

Davis traces the mountain's transformation from sacred land to national monument, examining the artistic ambition, political motivations, labor history, and cultural conflicts embedded in Mount Rushmore's creation. The conversation addresses both the monument's symbolic power and the controversies surrounding it, including Indigenous perspectives and modern debates over public memory.

This episode invites listeners to look beyond the stone faces and consider what Mount Rushmore reveals about American history—and how that history continues to be interpreted today.