The Road to Now

The Good Friday Agreements of 1998 marked a turning point in Irish history, bringing an end to three decades known as The Troubles and laying a course for a better future for the people of Ireland. In this historian Mark Doyle and Friends of Sinn Féin Executive Director Greg O’Loughlin join us for a conversation about Irish history, the status of Irish unification, and how peace is possible even in the hardest ...

A lot of Americans only know Eurovision via Will Farrell’s film, “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” which capture some of Eurovision’s over-the-top aspects,  but the history of the annual event actually shines light on some of the biggest cultural, social and political developments in post-World War II European history. In this episode, Paul Jordan, aka Dr. Eurovision, joins Ben and special gues...

With our live show in Washington, DC coming up on May 29, we thought it’d be fun to share one of our previous live recordings from Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC w/ guests Molly Worthen, Doug Heye & Rufus Edmisten!

Dr. Molly Worthen (Department of History at UNC-Chapel Hill), Doug Heye (CNN/former RNC Communication Director) & Rufus Edmisten (Deputy Chief Council, Senat...

John Cale is probably best known as a founding member of Velvet underground, but the four years he spent alongside Lou Reed represent a small fraction of the influence Cale has had on modern music. In this episode, recorded live at MTSU’s Center for Popular Music, Ben talks to his friend and colleague Mark Doyle about his new book in the 33 1/3 series, which explores John Cale’s 1973 album Paris 1919 and where ...

The American Historical Association was chartered by Congress in 1884 and has played an essential role in helping foster and spread great historical research. AHA incoming Executive Director Sarah Weicksel and pioneering public historian Ed Ayers join us for a discussion of AHA’s history, its current projects and the damage that recent government policy has done to historians’ ability to create and share an hon...

America’s role in the world is ‘changing’ and as much as things look new, we’ve seen a lot of this before. Economic Historian Jari Eloranta joins us to put NATO military spending, the looming trade war and other recent global developments in historical context. As always, there’s a lot that history can teach us when we pay attention to those who know it best.

Dr. Jari...

Last week the Trump Administration announced it would be cutting more than a thousand grants to the National Endowment for the Humanities, including grants for every state humanities council. In a letter the administration stated that the NEH would be “repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of President Trump’s agenda.”

One major organization suffering from th...

RTN is coming to Washington DC on May 29! Join us for a night of stories of murder and mayhem with guests Major Garrett, Margaret Talev, and Doug Heye at the Hamilton Live! You can get tickets and details at RTNpod.me/liveindc – hope to see you there!

The “Amazon economy” seems like something new, but it rests on the physical and intellectual infrastructure built by t...

With tariffs, the Enemy Alien Act, and politically driven calls for judicial impeachment in the headlines, Ben & Bob decided to sit down and put these developments in historic context. We’ve never been so disappointed to have such a great reason to discuss the history we love!

Some recommended readings:

The US Constitution

Libertarianism has had a tremendous influence on American politics, but according to Andrew Koppelman, its most prominent adherents have stripped libertarian philosophy of its more humane intentions. In this episode, Andrew joins Bob and Ben for a discussion about his book, Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed (St. Martin’s Press, 2022) and why he contends that ...

Come see us May 29^th at the Hamilton Live in DC! Click here for tickets.

Kathryn Olivarius joins Bob & Ben to explain the powerful role that Yellow Fever played in shaping all aspects of life in New Orleans during the 19^th century. Kathryn is Associate Professor of History at Stanford University and the authorNecropolis: Disease, Power & Capital...

Our next live show is in Washington, DC on May 29! Click here for tickets.

Anne Tindall is Special Council at the non-partisan group Protect Democracy, where she works to ensure that elections are free and fair, to prevent political violence, and to secure accountability for abuses of power at the federal and state level. In this episode she joins us to talk about th...

Just announced: The next Road to Now Live is May 29 at The Hamilton Live in Washington, DC! Click here to get your tickets!

Between 1933 and 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps enlisted more than three million young men in a project that planted two billion trees, slowed soil erosion on forty million acres of farmland, and enjoyed support across political and geogr...

Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers’ is a historian whose work has shed new light on the roles that women played in American slavery. In this episode, she joins Ben and Bob to share some of the significant findings of her work, the sources she’s used to learn more about enslaved people and female slaveowners, and her new project, which reorients our understanding of the British Atlantic slave trade by centering the story...

What does it mean to be different? This is the question Bob explores with author and President of the Word of South book and music festival, Mark Mustian, as they discuss his new historical-fiction novel, "The Boy with Wings." Set against the backdrop of a traveling freak show in the American South during the 1930s, the narrative follows the poignant journey of Johnny Cruel, a young man born with a distinctive ...