Stephen Foster was America’s first great published musician. He wrote some of America’s great folk songs, including “Oh, Suzanna,” “Camptown Races” and “Hard Times Come Again No More,” and his music was the inspiration for Paul Green’s play “The Stephen Foster Story,” which is performed every summer in Bardstown, Kentucky. In this episode we speak with two of the artists involved in that play- Donna Phillips and Johnny Warren- as well as My Kentucky Old Kentucky Home State Park Mansion Supervisor, Richard Blanton, to learn more about Foster’s life, their work in preserving his memory, and how it all can help us understand our past.   If you’re traveling through Kentucky, make sure to check out dates for “The Stephen Foster Story” and visit My Old Kentucky Home Mansion!   This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

#294 The Stephen Foster Story w/ Richard Blanton, Donna Phillips & Johnny Warren

Bob Crawford (The Avett Brothers) & Dr. Ben Sawyer (MTSU History) share conversations with great thinkers from a variety of backgrounds – historians, artists, legal scholars, political figures and more –who help us uncover the many roads that run between past and present. 

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This fall, the musical Swept Away, which is based on the music of Bob Crawford’s band The Avett Brothers is coming to broadway, and to celebrate, we’re re-sharing our conversation with writer, John Logan, and lead actor, John Gallagher Jr.   This conversation was recorded just after Swept Away premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in Berkeley, CA in January 2022, and when you hear the passion from the folks who brought the musical to life, you’ll understand why the show has been such a great success (and why you should go see it).   John Logan is Swept Away’s writer whose previous credits include Any Given Sunday, Skyfall, & Red.    John Gallagher Jr. is Swept Away’s lead actor who previously starred in American Idiot & The Newsroom.   Learn more about the musical at sweptawaymusical.com and by following @sweptawaymusical on Instagram.    Click here to hear John Gallagher Jr. performing “The Once and Future Carpenter” from Swept Away.   This episode originally aired as RTN #219 on January 17, 2022. Original editing by Gary Fletcher. Rebroadcast editing by Ben Sawyer.

Swept Away w/ John Logan and John Gallagher

Jon Grinspan has done something remarkable: in his new book, Wide Awake, he tells a thoroughly researched and brilliantly crafted story that may change your understanding of the origins of the American Civil War. In this episode, Jon joins us for a conversation about the Wide Awakes, the anti-slavery youth movement that played an instrumental role in electing Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and took part in some of the first acts of violence between pro and anti-slavery Americans in 1861. Jon also discusses the ways that the past and present interact in powerful ways, and how politics can evolve, step-by-step, into violence.   To quote  Jon’s recent article in The Smithsonian: “The most consequential political organization in American history….began when a few working-class kids designed a costume, which grew into a movement and ultimately an army. And it ended with a civil war.”   Dr. Jon Grinspan is a curator of political and military history at the National Museum of American History. His book Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War is out May 14, 2024 from Bloomsbury Press. Click here to order your copy!   You can hear Jon’s previous appearance on  The Road to Now in episode #220 Processing the Past w/ John Grinspan.   This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

#306 The Wide Awakes: The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War w/ Jon Grinspan

You might know Bushwick Bill as a member of the iconic Houston rap group The Geto Boys, but his contributions to rap music, his role in the debates over free speech in the 1990s, and his overall influence are far more substantial than you probably realize. In this episode, we welcome Charles Hughes back to the show to discuss his new book  Why Bushwick Bill Matters (Univ. of Texas Press) and to get a better understanding of the challenges and triumphs that shaped one of rap history’s most influential artists.   Dr. Charles Hughes is the Director of the Lynne and Henry Turley Memphis Center at Rhodes College. His previous books include  Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South which Rolling Stone named one of the  Best Music Books of 2015. You can hear our previous conversation with Charles in episode #25 The History of Country and Soul Music in the American South w/ Charles Hughes. You can follow Charles on twitter at @CharlesLHughes2.   This episode is a rebroadcast of RTN #242, which originally aired on July 25, 2022. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

Why Bushwick Bill Matters w/ Charles Hughes

Jonah Goldberg is one of America’s most well-known conservative intellectuals, with a resume that includes more than two decades at The National Review, twelve years as a commentator on Fox News, and two New York Times Bestsellers. In recent years, however, the changing definition of “conservative” in American politics has put Jonah at odds with the party that they once called home. In this episode, recorded live at Word of South Festival in Tallahassee, Florida, Jonah joins Ben & Bob for a discussion that ranges from the history and politics of the Supreme Court, to the Constitutional Convention, to the reasons that Jonah thinks that journalists should avoid becoming friends with politicians. We also discuss Jonah’s reasons for leaving Fox News after more than a decade as a Fox contributor, as well as his decisions to co-found The Dispatch and join the team at CNN.   To hear more from Jonah Goldberg, check out his podcast, The Remnant, or pick up a copy of Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy. You can also find out more about his work and speaking engagements at his website, JonahGoldberg.com.   This episode was recorded live at Word of South Festival on April 27, 2024. Ben & Bob would like to give special thanks to WOS founder Mark Mustian and the other WOS organizers for the invitation, to Rick & Linda Hyson for the hospitality during our stay in Tallahassee, and to Florida State University for sponsoring the event! An extended version of this conversation, which includes more than 20 minutes of additional conversation is available to our supporters on Patreon. Click here to listen to the extended episode! Thanks to our Patrons for keeping the show going! This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

#305 A Conversation w/ Jonah Goldberg – Recorded Live at Word of South Festival 2024

Can learning the skills required to do good history serve as an antidote to conspiracy theory? Cathy Gorn & Don Wildman think so, and in this episode they join us to discuss their work to teach those skills in the 6th-12th grade classroom through National History Day, a program that reaches more than half a million students and tens of thousands of teachers each year. We agree with them and think National History Day is an American treasure, so we hope you enjoy this conversation about what goes into creating good history, how we can better teach that to the public, and how your kids can get involved in National History Day.   Click here to learn more about National History Day programs for students & teachers.   Dr. Cathy Gorn has spent more than four decades working with National History Day and currently serves as NHD’s Executive Director.   Don Wildman is a podcast & documentary host whose projects include Mysteries at the Museum (Travel Channel) & the podcast American History Hit. He currently serves as Co-Chair of National History Day’s Development Committee.   This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

#294 The Stephen Foster Story w/ Richard Blanton, Donna Phillips & Johnny Warren

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