Now & Then
How can the past help inform today’s most pressing challenges? Every Wednesday, award-winning historians Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman use their encyclopedic knowledge of US history to bring the past to life. Together, they make sense of the week in news by discussing the people, ideas, and events that got us here today. Now and Then is produced by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
August 1, 2024 • 11 mins
Former Now & Then co-host Joanne Freeman joins Preet Bharara on Stay Tuned with Preet. They discuss Biden’s decision not to seek reelection, how Democrats have embraced Vice President Kamala Harris, what to expect in the November election, & more.
Listen to the full episode: https://cafe.com/stay-tuned/joanne-freeman-elections-kamala-harris-biden-trump-violence-democracy/
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September 28, 2023 • 41 secs
Heather Cox Richardson, host of Now & Then, joins Stay Tuned with Preet to discuss her new book, “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.” They talk about the origins of the terms “liberal” and “conservative,” a 1937 anti-FDR manifesto that presaged today’s GOP, and the ways in which the nation might move beyond the chaos of the Trump years.
Head to the Stay Tuned feed to listen.
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September 13, 2023 • 59 mins
On this finale episode of Now & Then, Heather and Joanne are joined by the show’s production team to discuss behind-the-scenes reflections and favorite memories from the series. Editorial Producers David Kurlander and Sam Ozer-Staton, Executive Producer Tamara Sepper, and Audio Producer Matthew Billy celebrate history, democracy, and friendship with the historians.
For references & supplemental materials, head to: https://cafe.co...
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September 6, 2023 • 53 mins
How do political debates help and hurt American democracy? Heather and Joanne reflect on the recent Republican primary debate and discuss the long legacy of the institution, from Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr’s proto-debates with voters during the contentious 1800 election, to the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates, to the iconic 1960 televised debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
Heather and Joanne discuss their own ...
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August 30, 2023 • 54 mins
What can we expect from the 2024 Conventions? Heather and Joanne look at the role of political conventions in American life, from the “King Caucus” era of the early 1800s, to President Lincoln’s ascendance at the 1860 RNC, to the impact of the 1968 DNC on the political process.
Heather and Joanne discuss the power of political history in the “Backstage” portion of the podcast. To get access to Backstage segments and other exclusi...
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August 23, 2023 • 50 mins
Can former President Trump pardon himself? Heather and Joanne explore the history of the pardon power, from constitutional debates, to President Andrew Johnson’s controversial Confederate pardons, to the corrupt Georgia pardon practices that precipitated the very relevant Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Heather and Joanne discuss what pardons have in common with extensions and other professorial acts of clemency in th...
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August 16, 2023 • 49 mins
The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team recently faced significant backlash after its World Cup defeat. Heather and Joanne explore how the team’s triumphs and losses fit into the history of women’s team sports, from the emergence of women’s basketball at Smith College in the 1890s, to the impact of Title IX, to the expansion of the Women’s World Cup in the 1990s.
Heather and Joanne also share their personal experiences playing spor...
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August 9, 2023 • 48 mins
What can the controversy over Florida’s new Black history standards tell us about the politics of distorting the past? Heather and Joanne analyze the claims and framing of the standards and connect the curricular mandates to a century-old effort by the United Daughters of the Confederacy to control how Southern history was taught.
How have Heather and Joanne sought to teach accurate American history in their own classes? They sha...
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August 2, 2023 • 53 mins
How should we make sense of the current labor activism in transportation and entertainment? Heather and Joanne explain how the fault lines in the UPS contract negotiation can be seen in the 1894 Pullman Strike. And they compare the WGA and SAG-AFTRA “double strike” in Hollywood to a similar walkout in 1960, led by none other than Ronald Reagan.
How do Heather and Joanne feel about the future of AI in their workplaces? And how do ...
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July 26, 2023 • 52 mins
What can the success of Barbie tell us about America? Heather and Joanne put the blockbuster film into context with other impactful dolls, from Raggedy Ann to G.I. Joe., exploring what these iconic playthings can show about U.S. debates over gender, race, and consumerism.
How did Heather and Joanne feel about dolls as young people? They share more of their thoughts in a special “Backstage” segment of the podcast. Become a member ...
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July 19, 2023 • 49 mins
Heather and Joanne respond to the presidential candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy and the hype surrounding the No Labels political organization by looking at two past third-party bids that changed the nation: the 1844 presidential candidacy of James G. Birney’s anti-slavery Liberty Party and the 1912 campaign of Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Party.
How can third party candidacies reflect the values of the nation? How can they back...
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July 12, 2023 • 45 mins
Heather and Joanne compare the national response to the implosion of the Titan submersible to two high-profile historical sea calamities: the 1813 ocean vanishing of Theodosia Burr and the 1872 Mary Celeste “ghost ship” drama.
How do Americans react to tragedies on the high seas? What can these mysterious and painful incidents tell us about our national anxieties and values?
How have Heather and Joanne processed sea dangers in ...
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June 28, 2023 • 46 mins
Heather and Joanne reflect on the recent Haaland v. Brackeen Supreme Court decision, which upholds the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act. They put the case into context with past struggles by indigenous communities to define their place in the American story, from Tenskwatawa’s 1800s quest for representation, to the consequences of the 1887 Dawes Act, to the 1960s origins of the American Indian Movement.
How is the challenge of teach...
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June 21, 2023 • 47 mins
How can personal lawyers help and hurt embattled presidents?
Heather and Joanne use the current chaos engulfing former President Trump’s legal team to explore the blurry roles of private presidential attorneys in American history. They explore conservative Unionist lawyer Reverdy Johnson’s effective role in helping President Lincoln to find legal rationale for escalations in the Civil War. And they compare Johnson’s role to the n...
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June 14, 2023 • 57 mins
What can past struggles over American water access tell us about national power and politics?
Heather and Joanne place state and federal government responses to the Southwest’s current megadrought in the tangled history of water management, from Aaron Burr’s duplicitous scheme to give New York clean water, to William Mulholland’s Los Angeles “water wars,” to the proliferation of New Deal dams.
What were Heather and Joanne’s dif...
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June 7, 2023 • 55 mins
What can the contested and often-mythological history of Texas show us about America today?
Heather and Joanne use the current impeachment drama surrounding Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as a window into the dramatic and ever-shifting legacies of the Alamo and the Texas oil boom.
What have been Heather and Joanne's personal experiences of Texas? Join CAFE Insider to listen to “Backstage,” where Heather and Joanne chat each ...
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May 31, 2023 • 45 mins
Stories of remarkable heroism by women in Ukraine have captured the imagination of the world over the past 15 months. How have women warriors shaped conversations over gender, violence, and heroism over the course of United States history?
In this Memorial Day-inspired encore presentation of a March 2022 episode, Heather and Joanne discuss the Revolutionary War figures Molly Pitcher and Deborah Sampson, Harriet Tubman’s Civil War...
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May 24, 2023 • 50 mins
In the concluding episode of a two-part series, Heather and Joanne discuss alternative approaches to medicine throughout American history, and place them in the context of today’s non-traditional remedies, like psychedelic therapy and wellness brands.
They talk through the 19th century diet movements of Sylvester Graham and John Kellogg, the popularity of cross-cultural practices like acupuncture, yoga, and Reiki, and the 1960s ri...
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May 17, 2023 • 46 mins
In the first episode of a two-part series, Heather and Joanne look at how the traditional American medical establishment has conceived of mental health over our national history. What can these designations say about the pandemic-associated mental health crises we currently face? How have powerful Americans defined “normalcy” and “abnormalcy” at various points?
They explore the pioneering and controversial Philadelphia physician B...
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May 10, 2023 • 48 mins
What is the role of the Vice President in American political history? What is the road ahead for VP Kamala Harris? Heather and Joanne break down the evolving role of the VP, from John Adams’s frustrated tenure, to Chester A. Arthur’s transition from corruption to reform, to Walter Mondale’s close partnership with President Jimmy Carter.
Have Heather and Joanne ever felt like Vice Presidents? Join CAFE Insider to listen to “Backst...
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