More than 30 people who spent the last three years immersed in thousands of letters written by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Abigail Adams, and James Madison, are experiencing a sense of loss and sorrow now that the massive project to proofread the letters and make them available online has come to a close. Join us as Bill Kissell, Donna Carty, and Dena Radley share favorite letters that reveal the fascinating inner lives of the founders. Also: Project Director Sue Perdue (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities) and Kathleen Williams (National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives) describe the scope of this remarkable project of the National Archives called Founders Online.

Later in the show: In the age of Facebook, “friend” is now a verb. Dylan Wittkower (Old Dominion University) says the concept of friendship has changed with the advent of social media, but sites like Facebook can expand the ties between people. Also featured: From Al Qaida to Timothy McVeigh, many terrorists are influenced by the radical apocalyptic idea of bringing on “the end of days.” Frances Flannery (James Madison University) argues that we need to think about long-term solutions which involve a kind of “cultural counter-terrorism.”