On the brink of the inauguration, historians reflect on America's trajectory

President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated for a second term on Monday, Jan. 20.

So this week, Big Books and Bold Ideas asked two historians who’ve written about America’s past to reflect on America’s future and give us a broader view of where we are. They point to eras in our past that predict our present. They also discuss what they’ll be watching for as Trump returns to the Oval Office.

Guests:

• Carol Anderson a historian and professor of African-American studies at Emory University. She’s the author of many books, including “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide” and “One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy.”




• Lindsay Chervinsky is a presidential historian, the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library and the author of “Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic.”

If you missed it, be sure to check out Big Books and Bold Ideas 2024 series on the state of American democracy. It kicked off with historian Heather Cox Richardson, the author of “Democracy Awakening,” and included conversations with Elizabeth Cobbs, Frank Bruni, Eboo Patel, Sharon McMahon and others.

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