The Asset

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson renew their correspondence after years of silence, beginning an extraordinary epistolary reunion that revives their friendship in old age. Built from real letters, speeches, and memoirs, the finale follows the renewed exchange between the two founders as they revisit the Revolution, the presidency, the meaning of republican government, and the contradictions of the nation they helped create.

As Adams and Jefferson move from grievance to affection, the episode also reflects on Abigail Adams, Sally Hemings, John Quincy Adams, and the larger legacy of the founding generation. The story closes on the 50th anniversary of American Independence, with the two men dying on the same day and the narrator reminding us how much their lives shaped the republic.

Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, the American Revolution, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776.

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John Adams hosts Thomas Jefferson one last time on his final night in the White House, and the two men confront the meaning of party, power, and the peaceful transfer of authority. Built from real historical language, the episode follows Jefferson’s inauguration, Adams’s departure from Washington, and the tensions that follow as Jefferson begins rolling back the Federalist program.

As the episode continues, James Callender’s accusations against Jefferson and Sally Hemmings expose the hidden violence and contradiction at the center of the founding generation.

With Adams, Jefferson, Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Sally Hemings all shaping the story, the episode becomes a study in principle, scandal, memory, and unfulfilled promises.

Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, the American Revolution, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776.

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John Adams becomes President after narrowly defeating Thomas Jefferson in 1796, and the uneasy partnership between the two men is tested by cabinet politics, French aggression, and the rise of partisan warfare. Built from historical dialogue and source material, the episode follows Adams, Jefferson, Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, and James Callender as public principle, private friendship, and political survival collide.

As France seizes American ships, Adams calls for military readiness and a stronger navy, while Jefferson turns to the press and to Callender to attack Adams and his administration. The episode closes with Adams triumphant over the peace with France, but personally wounded by defeat, setting up the final stage of the Adams-Jefferson divide.

Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the American Revolution, and the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776.

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After The American Revolution, George Washington becomes the first President of the United States, John Adams is swept into the vice presidency, and Thomas Jefferson takes on a central role as Secretary of State. Built from real historical language and dramatized from the founders’ letters, speeches, and memoirs, the episode explores how the new nation begins to define power, duty, and the limits of government.

As Adams and Jefferson argue over the presidency, federal power, the British Constitution, political parties, and the French Revolution, the story also turns to Jefferson’s alliance with Thomas Paine and the rupture it causes with Adams. The episode ends with the emerging divide between the two men and the growing tension between public principle and personal friendship.

Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776.

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From the producers of The Asset.

During the American Revolution, John Adams leaves Braintree for a dangerous crossing to France, while Thomas Jefferson retreats to Monticello, grief-stricken after the death of Martha Jefferson. Built from real letters, speeches, and memoirs, the episode follows Adams, Jefferson, Abigail Adams, and Sally Hemings as they move between war, diplomacy, family, and the moral contradictions of the founding era.

From the Atlantic crossing and the French salons to London, Paris, and Monticello, the episode deepens the friendship between Adams and Jefferson while showing how power, marriage, slavery, and public duty shape their lives. 

Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776.

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From The Asset team: Patriarchs. 

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This first episode begins at the end, then rewinds to before the Revolutionary War, at the Continental Congress, where Adams and Jefferson clash, collaborate, and argue over independence, democracy, and the future of the nation. With powerful performances and historically grounded dialogue, Patriarchs explores the human cost of power, principle, and ambition.

Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776. Patriarchs stars Stacy Keach as Thomas Jefferson and Edward Gero as John Adams.

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The Asset team is releasing a 6-part audio drama Patriarchs. As the United States approaches 250 years of independence, the nation is asking hard questions about how it began, who paid the price, and what kind of republic it has become. Patriarchs, a loaded but apt term in today’s vernacular, is a six-episode historical podcast drama that answers those questions by chronicling the most consequential relationship in early America: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, told in their own words. 

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We begin with two former presidents looking back over a life together as friends, rivals, and uneasy family.  From there, listeners travel back to the moment these strangers first step outside the  Continental Congress to talk, two lawyers, two farmers, two men who have no idea they are  about to remake the world. 

Every scene, every argument, every confession in Patriarchs is drawn from real letters,   speeches, and memoirs, voiced by an ensemble of award-‑winning actors—with Stacy Keach   starring as Thomas Jefferson. The result is an intimate drama of brilliant founders who are also flawed fathers, husbands,  slaveholders, and partisans. ​

We hear their partnership forged in crisis, as they push Congress toward independence and wrestle the language of the Declaration onto the page.​ Alongside them is Abigail Adams, one of the sharpest political minds of the age, whose letters  slice cleanly through ego and ideology. 

Patriarchs also confronts the reality of slavery and sexual exploitation in the founding  generation, centering Sally Hemings not as rumor but as a speaking, thinking presence whose  choices and constraints shape Jefferson’s life. 

Patriarchs is a chance to hear the founding generation as they really sounded: insecure, vain, idealistic, petty, courageous, haunted—often in the same breath in a rare combination of rigorous  primary-source history and bingeable character drama, led by Stacy Keach and a veteran cast  capable of carrying both prestige storytelling and wide audience appeal.

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In this eye-opening episode, Jim Wallis and Robert P. Jones dive deep into the latest poll data revealing President Trump’s unprecedented negative approval ratings within his first 100 days back in office. Discover how Trump ranks as the most unpopular president since World War II at this stage, with a majority of Americans-including 55% of independents-viewing him as a dangerous dictator whose power must be limited to protect American democracy.

The discussion also highlights the sharp racial and religious divides in Trump’s support, with White Evangelical Protestants largely backing him, while Christians of Color and other faith groups overwhelmingly reject his leadership. Tune in for a compelling analysis of what these numbers mean for America’s political and moral future.

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In this very speacial episode of The Asset, legal journalist Dahlia Lithwick (Slate’s Amicus podcast) exposes how Trump’s second-term agenda—and cases like Dr. Rasha Alawieh’s deportation and Mahmoud Khalil’s ICE detention—are testing judicial independence. 

We break down:

• The "metaphorical weapons" courts still have against executive overreach;
• Why Chief Justice Roberts’ rare public warning matters now;
• Project 2025’s blueprint for reshaping the judiciary; and
• Real-world impacts on immigrants, academics, and civil liberties.

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In the aftermath of the virtual destruction of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), millions will starve and millions will die around the world. In this very special episode of the Jim Wallis Podcast, we provide a window into the magnitude of the torment being inflicted upon those Jesus called “the least of these.”  

You can read Jim’s Commentary on this subject here

Rev. Jim Wallis speaks with an eyewitness to the desperation, devastation, and imminent death that is resulting from the Trump Administration’s vicious assault on people providing life-saving humanitarian aid around the world. 

Rev. Tim Costello, a global expert on international humanitarian aid, is the former Chief Executive of World Vision Australia (WVA) and the current Executive Director of Micah Australia. He was in Kenya and Uganda when the Trump Administration inaugurated the irresponsible and unconscionable freeze on USAID funds. “Kenyan women, clinicians, doctors [were] in tears saying, ‘the medications, the U-S-A-I-D medications have dried up. This means we cannot treat the people who we've treated for so many years, poor Kenyan people without a chance without these medications.’”

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